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Tip 77 Understanding your Emotional State
We have many ideas about our emotional states or internal cues, and these beliefs, most of which we have picked up in childhood or through popular culture, do not do us much credit. When we were babies, internal cues told us, on a very intuitive level, when we were hungry or uncomfortable. Our response to these cues - crying - brought instant relief in the form of a harried but worried parent.
Advertisements which surround us each day try to further this childish view of internal cues. We are told that we absolutely need a certain product, or we are convinced through glossy ads that we will be absolutely happy only if we drive a specific make of car. Plus, popular culture often finds convenient scapegoats for most of our internal cues. We are fearful of walking alone at night because of the rising crime rate; we are unhappy because of our lousy childhoods; we are behaving badly because we are acting out on something terrible that happened to us years ago.
Emotional state plays a big role in addiction since its these emotions that addicts are constantly trying to run away from. |
