Negative Emotions Have Positive Power

Negative emotions get a bad wrap in our culture, which is really too bad considering how long they’ve kept us alive. Negative emotions have positive power.

For example, there’s a lot of energy produced by feeling angry. This energy can motivate us to change, to action, even to wisdom. Fear is another emotion that we love to demonize. But consider how powerful fear can make us in the right circumstances. If I feared for my daughter’s safety, that would overcome any fear I would have for my own and would galvanize me into action. There’s a decision making paradigm I first heard about from the book Eight to Great by MK Mueller. Are you making decisions based on going towards something you want or are you trying to avoid something that’s negative? I would say mostly I’m oriented toward things I want. That’s a good standard operating procedure for navigating most of life’s challenges. But there have been times in my life when I’ve thought “I never want to feel this way again.” And that deep feeling of I Never Want to Feel this Way Again because it feels awful motivated some big life changes for me. Big changes such as leaving jobs and being brave enough to apply to new ones. Negative emotions can be the positive power we need to overcome some of life’s challenges.