Emotions Archives - Page 4 of 22

October 28, 2023October 19, 2023 by Pete Wiley

Intentional Engagement—Healthy Existence in a Heartbreaking World

How can I live a normal, comfortable life with so much pain and suffering in the world?

It’s a good question. For some, it’s a source of constant guilt and anxiety. A better (healthier) question might be: Am I doing what I can to decrease the pain and suffering in the world while still leading a fulfilling, meaningful life? The truth is that your suffering doesn’t stop others from suffering, while your working to decrease suffering does. You also might feel you don’t have the right to be happy while there is so much suffering in the world. That, too, begs the question of impact. Will you being miserable make others less miserable? So, how can you reconcile your life with the state of the world?

September 2, 2023August 10, 2023 by Pete Wiley

Big Impacts of Little Things—Getting a Handle On the Everyday

The stresses of daily life can feel overwhelming. Over time, the impact of everyday problems can accumulate and feel unsurmountable. Everyday stress is not about any single, intense, or life-changing event—instead, it’s about the daily headaches, hassles, and dramas. The effect can be hard to pin down. You start feeling tired, irritable, and anxious. You may feel like talking it out with someone, but you don’t quite know what’s going on. The impact can become overwhelming, and eventually, you may feel like it’s all too much and you’re dealing with it alone.

August 5, 2023April 27, 2023 by Pete Wiley

Pillars of Life—The Importance of Engaging Mind, Body, and Spirit

As we move through our days, we may live active, productive, and even meaningful lives. But something may still be missing. It may be hard to put our fingers on it. One possible reason for this is the failure to be intentional about fundamental aspects of our lives—mind, body, and spirit—the three pillars of life. Most of us engage with these pillars to some degree: we exercise, we challenge ourselves mentally, or we have healthy spiritual lives. But how many of us consistently engage with all three pillars intentionally and regularly? When we do, we’ll find that our lives are enhanced—in ways that we may not even realize.

in Emotions / Mindful 0 comments

Indifference. Painting of a figure shut off from the world.

May 13, 2023April 6, 2023 by Pete Wiley

Why Should I Care? The Nature of Indifference

When we swat a mosquito, we don’t necessarily have any hostility toward it or its actions; we are indifferent. We are merely getting rid of an annoyance. That may be our attitude toward a great many things in the world—we don’t give them much thought, and we don’t care that much, if at all. For us to care about something, it must have some kind of emotional connection to us. We must have a reason for feeling something, positive or negative, about it and how we interact with it. Sometimes our indifference is affected for a purpose, sometimes it is genuine. Sometimes indifference is intentional, while sometimes it is due to a lack of awareness. Sometimes we are aware, but there is no emotional connection—there is no common frame of reference that would make us care. We can know something or someone well but still be indifferent due to how little they are involved in our lives. And, in the same way that we should be aware of why we have strong emotions about something, we should be aware of when and why we don’t.

in Emotions / Mindful 0 comments

April 15, 2023March 30, 2023 by Pete Wiley

Understanding Intimidation—Why We Are Intimidated and How to Handle It

We all get intimidated from time to time, even the most confident among us. Sometimes we are intimidated for good reason, and the feelings of fear, anxiety, and apprehension are important survival tools. Other times, we are intimidated by bullies, and learning their psychology and motivations can help us to deal with those situations. But there are also times when we are intimidated by well-meaning people who, for some reason, scare us, make us nervous, or put us off our game. It is important to understand all of these sources of intimidation, where they come from, and why and how they affect us.

in Emotions / Proactive 0 comments