Beyond Happy: 5 Ways to Discover Life-Enriching Emotions
Being happy is a state like “flow”.
A state can be created as one chooses. It is experienced moment by moment. It also has the potential to become a habit or a pattern. We may not realise, but where we habitually place our attention in time (when) significantly impacts our emotions and states. Any state is triggered by where we place our attention — who? where? what? when? what for? how? (I don’t ask why, because the question why only elicits excuses or justifications, not real root causes).
Discovering a broad range of states allows us to reinvent ourselves. You discover the kind of emotions you habitually experience and the new states that you want to experience more of.
Beyond happiness is a rich inner landscape of emotions waiting to be discovered.
Life-enriching Emotions Beyond Happiness
Living life to the fullest means experiencing as broad a range of rich emotions as possible. This means being emotionally flexible and self-aware.
I listed below life-enriching states/emotions. I grouped them according to the time-frame in which we focus our attention. For example, being relaxed is a very present state. Being excited is triggered by putting our attention into something about to happen in the future. Being grateful is directing our attention to a past event or context.
Some states are potentially problematic. These states could be useful red flags to create positive change in our lives.However, they are potentially destructive if we find ourselves stuck in those states and limit our experience of more life-enriching states.
PAST-directed States
- Proud
- Accepting
- Satisfied, Pleased, Fulfilled
- Grateful, Appreciative
- Delighted, Thrilled
- Potentially Problematic: Angry, Annoyed, Ashamed, Bitter, Embarrassed, Frustrated, Furious, Grieving, Guilty, Hurt, Regretful, Resentful
PRESENT-directed States
- Engaged, Connected
- Fun, Joy, Bliss, Relaxed
- Flow, Magical
- Exuberance, Exhilaration
- Caring, Compassion
- Playful, Humorous, Naughty
- Passionate, Pleasurable, Sensuous
- Energetic, Vitality, Alert, Concentrated
- Confidence, Capable, Efficient, Resourceful, Creativity
- Interested, Amorous
- Comfortable, Contentment
- Secure
- Potentially Problematic: Bored, Confused, Cranky, Inadequate, Overwhelmed, Disagreeable, Envious, Helpless, Jealous, Lonely
FUTURE-directed States
- Optimistic, Hopeful
- Excited, Anticipatory, Enthusiastic
- Certainty, Committed
- Determined, Motivated
- Purposeful, Focused
- Potentially Problematic: Anxious, Depressed, Dreadful, Fearful, Greedy, Hopeless, Resistant
How Is this Beneficial? A Useful Exercise for a Richer Life
The quality of our lives is influenced by the kind of states we experience moment by moment. Asking the following questions was helpful in creating a positive shift.
This is an exercise in directing attention to create useful states and life patterns.
- Which states and emotions do I experience more frequently?
(These define quality of life, interactions and relationships) - Which ones am I able to access easily and naturally?
- What states would I like to experience more of?
(These will create a positive transformation. The easiest way to experience states we have limited experience of is to find people who demonstrate them and model them) - What states are not useful or helpful?
(What are these states telling me?) - Where do I focus more: my past, present or future?
(Gives a clue if we feel something’s missing in life)
(Reposted from my Blogspirit site, originally posted March 2012)
