A ground-breaking road map to the secrets of transforming negative feelings into joy and laughter. The premise is that successful use of emotions depends upon l) knowing what emotions are meant to accomplish; 2) recognizing feelings based upon your thoughts, 3) recognizing feelings from physical sensations, and 4) using physical movements that correspond to each emotion in order to facilitate processing of issues. This first book in the series will give you a foundation for using your whole self to start taking charge of your emotions so you can start living a more fulfilling and satisfying life.

Introduction

Celebrate your emotions, come learn more about them, and then commit to your own journey.

Emotions are what put us in tune with one another, our fellow creatures, and earth itself. Learn to take time to express pure emotion, so your words can have more meaning. In my clinical work with young children, I have been dazzled to see the speed of their recovery simply from having their emotional expressions understood and "talked to" with emotion in return. Transferring play techniques to adults, I have been cheered by increased patient/client freedom in dealing with issues. I have so much enthusiasm for and belief in the power and wisdom of emotions that I sometimes feel like a zealous public relations agent when I talk or write about them. But truly, the payoffs are numerous and cumulative. You will develop more of a personality... your own, special, unique and caring personality, less encumbered by conditioning... and you will be freer to find and follow your true passions in life. And following your true passion is a moral and spiritual issue, not just for you, but for all of us. Each of us must evolve. The time is now. So now, as a public relations agent for the emotions, I hope that you will enjoy and grow from this short book.

One root of unhappiness is thinking.

People think thousands of thoughts a day, often repetitively, with many of those thoughts left untapped in terms of gaining self-knowledge and improving one's life.

The way out of unhappiness involves both feeling and thinking.

Thought-stopping, mind control and positive thinking all fall short of tapping your full potential for happiness. You need to spend more time feeling, which puts you in the "now" and helps to free you of pointless or compulsive over-thinking.

Thoughts are clues.

"Bad" thoughts don't just cause or cure problems, they are also messengers of emotional causes and potential cures. So if you suppress a bad thought, you also suppress the emotional pattern associated with it. Doing that, you stop yourself from growing, and increase the probability that you will be ambushed later by the emotions you just suppressed. Far better to figure out the emotions represented by your "bad" thoughts, and feel your way through them into better thoughts. All the positive thinking in the world cannot overcome the simple reality that emotions rule even more than logic. Saying that "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" testifies to the misery that comes from committing to thought without working through mixed and hidden emotions.

Every emotion is meant to lead to joy.

Every negative emotion stored without having reached joy is a part of you being held back. Negative emotions just mean that you have unsolved problems. Once you admit a negative emotion, you can begin to solve the problems associated with it. When you solve problems, you have joy... even if, as you do at times for other emotions, you fail to notice it.