Thursday, January 31, 2013

Are You Feeling As Faded As Your Washed Out Jeans? Part 1 Of A 3 Part Series

By Miriam B. Medina

Life is an emotional roller coaster. It is a continuing cycle of ups and downs, once the ride starts, one can't stop. We react to almost everything that life hurls our way. This dictates our moods, our actions and our feelings in either a positive or negative way. Body language and facial expressions can reveal many things about an individual. Body language can also give clues as to the state of mind that a person might be in, or, to put it a better way, their "Attitude".
Body language can tell you if someone is happy, sad, or looking for a fight. Just looking at a person's slouched shoulders or the turned down corners of their mouth can tell you if that person is feeling sad or bored. If they have an attitude problem, both their body and their facial expression will give warning signs that a confrontation is inevitable.
If a person is stressed out, you can sense the negative energy generating from them, even if you are not in the same room with them. You can hear them slamming things around, muttering to themselves or sighing and moaning.
Many of us have become resigned to these basic emotions, the ones that seem to be programmed into our normal existence. I don't think we can even imagine ourselves without these emotions. There are 7 basic emotions that affect us all.
What are those Seven Basic Emotions, you ask?
There are seven emotions that we all feel and share. Facial expressions help us identify these universal emotions. Facial expressions have been universally recognized as part of the human's evolved nature, regardless of culture. These emotions are:
Sadness
Disgust
Fear
Anger
Contempt
Surprise
Joy
These varied emotional expressions are ingrained in us; we accept them as part of human nature. We don't give any thought as to why we are prone to react as we do. I guess it boils down to us being creatures of habit. Life is habitual. But there are some behavioral patterns that need to be controlled and managed in order for us to live a normal life. We have the power of changing these habits if we allow ourselves to be liberated.
In my previously published article, I talked about "Keeping your cool in a Pressure Cooker World". In that article, I used my own personal financial crisis as an example to learn from.
In this piece, I reflected on stress and how it became a major catastrophe at a particular time in my life. I learned eventually how to cope with specific emotional challenges in a more positive way. That's how I survived. This experience and what I learned has opened my eyes to a better world, one beyond my personal experience. Today's article is certainly no exception to the emotional roller coaster ride which has different behavioral effects on us all. Mood swings are a big part of daily life. You can go from over-stimulation to under stimulation in a heartbeat. Simply put, you can have a hyperactive day, climbing the walls, only to feel overwhelmed by nothingness and sucked into a state of listlessness or boredom later that evening. There just isn't anything going on interesting enough to hold your attention. Your brain can't get energized or stimulated, and eventually, you feel as "Faded As Your Washed Out Jeans".
I chose this catchy title because I thought it was a great and simple way to introduce my own concept on the subject of boredom. First and foremost, I'm not claiming to be an expert in this matter, but rather someone who likes to observe people, someone who tries to understand varied emotional states in order to talk about them in a productive way.
In part 2 and part 3 of this 3 part series, that's exactly what we'll do, examine boredom or listlessness so we can learn from these lethargic states, so we can learn how to escape and free ourselves from these often depressing, static states of mind. In this way, we can lead a better, more fulfilling, more exciting life, and can get more from the time we have on this wonderful planet. So relax, read the next 2 parts of this 3 part series, and learn how you can beat boredom, so you can put some color and pizzazz back into those faded jeans.

Miriam B. Medina is a successful website administrator and writer. She is a strong woman with a Positive Mental Attitude who has overcome her bitter past to lead a better, more peaceful life. She invites you to share her worthwhile thoughts at: http://mimispeaks.blogspot.com/2011/11/table-of-contents-4a-positive-thinking.html




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