The 2nd D in our 4D human being framework is the emotional dimension.
This is all about how you feel emotionally day to day and also how you make others feel by the things you say and do.
In terms of personal development we have found that this dimension can be the most challenging for people and in some cases it's just plain avoided.
Daniel Goleman has written extensively on the subject of emotional intelligence and his work is definitely worth looking at, and even re-visiting if you're already familiar with it.
So, in this post I'd like to look at the Positive psychology movement. The central philosophy of positive psychology is to help people to become happier rather than trying to help depressed people get back to where they were before depression set in. The followers and practitioners of positive psychology say their findings demonstrate that happy people live longer, have more friends, are more productive and generally stay in better health for longer. They also suggest that positive and optimistic thinking more often leads to positive outcomes.
The thinking behind positive psychology was developed by psychologist Martin Seligman, of the University of Pennsylvania. He began to change his view of and approach to traditional therapies because he believed psychologists tended to focus solely on identifying and managing dysfunction and depression rather than offering techniques to create happiness and contentment.
He felt that if he took a depressed patient and removed all the negatives from their lives most of them would be in neutral and perhaps feel empty rather than happy. He felt psychologists needed to offer more so, he began his own research by focussing on identifying the elements that constitute a happy life. Looking at the behaviour and personal qualities of people who claimed to be happy.
The principle behind positive psychology are not new. The idea that if we remain optimistic and enthusiastic about life we'll achieve success was first, commercially proposed by Norman Vincent Peale. However a resurgence of this type of thinking is a welcome change. It seems obvious enough that if we keep a positive attitude to life we will have energy available to pick up on opportunities we may have missed in a neutral or depressed psychological state.
So how do we do it?
According to positive psychology optimism is an emotional attitude that can be learned and developed. The remedy is simple, we just focus on the things we have talent for, whatever that may be, from creative pursuits like art and music, to sport, literature, cooking or communicating. Identifying and acknowledging our personal strengths and those of others rather than pointing out our failings and what we are less able to do. Keeping front of mind our past and current successes rather than the disasters and failures. Looking back at the past for a reference, but not staring.
The traditional, psychic archeology of psychoanalysis is no longer a favoured route for today's psychotherapists who work with the more modern methods and principles of brief, cognitive and behavioural therapies. From the PP point of view continually reliving painful and difficult memories just re-energises and strengthens them by keeping the neural pathways to these thoughts and ideas open and in our consciousness.
One of the foundational techniques of PP is to wake up in the morning and write down all the things that are good in your life. This can help to set the emotional tone and psychological temperature for the day. Simple things (if they are true for you and represent your experience) can be seen as gifts when we consider what it might be like to experience the opposite of statements like:
I am pain free.
I have more than enough energy resources to face the day.
I have a warm comfortable place to sleep.
I am not under the threat of violence.
I have people in my life who care.
I have enough food to eat.
Over time this habit of positive affirmation helps to reframe our mindset and can make us more resilient to the trials and tribulations of life. In fact, studies by Ernest Rossi suggests that self suggestion can create a self fulfilling prophecy at the level of the neural pathways in our brains and DNA and over time a thought can become an unconscious, psycho-physical behaviour.
So, perhaps, instead of living each day in the haze of free floating anxiety at the thought of global economic collapse, nuclear war and other stories of doom and gloom, we could be experiencing an underlying sense of happiness and realising a renewed optimism.
The practitioners of Positive Psychology suggest that happiness may be found in one or a mix of three routes:
The Pleasant life
This life is about instant gratification, acquiring money, status and superficial pleasures. Though pleasant while it lasts this happiness is unsustainable because we humans can quickly tire of people, places and things without a deeper purpose.
The Good life
Is about learning growing and energising our talents and our strengths, focussing our energy on bonding and building relationships with others. Creating social networks, joining special interest communities in order to learn and share our values, ideas, talents and experiences with like minded others.
The Meaningful life
This life is about using our talents, strengths and abilities to help others and enhance their lives in ways that are meaningful for them. The focus is directed less on ourselves and more on other people.
It is suggested that a combination of all three is ideal but the last two are most desirable.
It is important to know that positive psychology is not meant to be an alternative to traditional therapy but rather an additional, complimentary path to follow.
We can begin to tap into emotional energy using some of the exercises and processes grounded in PP that focus on our mental strengths and positive emotions. Feeling well emotionally leads to thinking well intellectually and a desire for full engagement in all our activities, both social and professional.
And, an added bonus is that the emotion of 'desire for positive engagement' can raise our energy levels in all 4 dimensions.
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