Positive emotions not only feel good, but they also increase our overall life satisfaction.
How?
By building resilience.
University of North Carolina professor Barbara Fredrickson has spent the past two decades looking into why we have positive emotions and what we do with them. She even has her own term for her work: positivity.
To quote an old commercial, “Why ask ‘why’?” when it comes to positive emotions? Shouldn’t we just enjoy them while they’re around? Sure, but maybe we can find even more about how these emotions benefit us.
Why do we have emotions anyway?
We know that negative emotions evolved over millennia to keep humans protected from harm in the environment.
Fear, anger, sadness, and other negative emotions actually create a very narrow bandwidth of attention while at the same time increasing our heart rates.
Why? (There I go again.)
So our ancestors could use their narrowed focus and increased cardiovascular responses to make instant decisions and mobilize their bodies for action.
Yes, it’s that old fight-or-flight response mechanism.
When a predatory animal approached our ancestor, she needed to become very focused on the situation at hand and her body needed to ramp up to either run or fight the animal.
If this response had not evolved in our species, it’s likely that none of us would be here today.
What if our ancestor was unable to feel emotions or perhaps only experience positive emotions?
She would have been lunch for that saber-toothed tiger.
Nice kitty.
Are positive emotions adaptive or do they just make us feel good?
So where do positive emotions fit into this scheme, then?
Being happy is not going to protect me or cause me to take action quickly, right?
Or will it?
As it turns out, Fredrickson’s research shows that positive emotions are very adaptive and here’s why:
Being happy or content or joyful not only soothes our cardiovascular systems so we can relax. Also, those emotions broaden our mindsets and social openness, among other things, which allows us to have wider ranges of ideas and more flexibility in our behaviors.
Said another way:
We are able to problem-solve more easily, increase social support, and increase physical health – essential resiliency skills – all by experiencing positive emotions.
Can positive emotions actually “undo” the effects of negative emotions?
It seems they can.
Fredrickson’s research reveals that experiencing a 3:1 ratio of positive to negative emotions can actually make physical changes in your body and expand your mindset to create more personal resilience.
As mentioned previously, negative emotions such as fear and anger are useful in that they pump up your cardiovascular system to prepare you to either get away from or fight a threat to your well-being.
There is a problem with this, though. The increased heart rate, blood pressure, and shallow breathing created by negative emotions continue long after the threat is gone and create other physical problems for you.
Another useful aspect of negative emotions is that they narrow your focus to the threat at hand so you can make a decision as to what to do.
However, the downside is that continued negative emotions leave you in a very limited frame of mind, one that does not allow for the creativity and growth needed to live a satisfied and resilient life.
The “undoing” effect of positive emotions
Positive emotions such as love, joy, and interest allow the cardiovascular system to relax and, as it turns out, experiencing three times as many positive emotions as negative actually “undoes” the lingering cardiovascular restrictions caused by your negative emotions.
Similarly, positive feelings create an emotional space that allows you to broaden your attention and utilize your creativity to not only enjoy life more but also stock up on emotional and social resources that help you later when you face adversity.
Creating positivity
So, how can you go about getting more positive feelings in your life? Here are some ideas:
1. Notice positive moments.
Researchers Susan Folkman and Judith Moskowitz from UC San Francisco suggest that you take “psychological time-outs” by noticing the beautiful smile of a person walking by you, reflecting on a compliment someone gave you, or pausing to enjoy a beautiful sunset. Don’t let those wonderful little moments pass you by without taking a moment to appreciate them.
2. Practice mindfulness meditation.
Sit quietly, with your eyes closed, even for a few minutes. Focus on your breath and, as you notice your mind being active with thoughts, just allow those thoughts to float away like bubbles.
And don’t judge either yourself or the thoughts passing through your mind. That’s the key to mindfulness meditation – lack of self-judgment. As you learn to be less judgmental toward yourself, you create more space for positive feelings about yourself and the world.
3. Practice random acts of kindness.
Helping others makes them feel good and increases your positivity, too.
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Psychotherapist Bobbi Emel specializes in helping people face life’s significant challenges and regain their resiliency. Download her free ebook, “Bounce Back! 5 keys to survive and thrive through life’s ups and downs.” You can find her blog at www.TheBounceBlog.com.
* source: 1 Feldman, S. and Moskowitz, J.T., Positive affect and the other side of coping, American Psychologist, 2000, 5(6), 647-654
-What are your thoughts on the ideas above? Share your thoughts in the comments below.