THE FOUR BASIC EMOTIONS
Posted on December 15, 2020 by Michelle Volz, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Human emotions can get complicated, but there's an easy way to break them down with one simple checklist.
Part of being a human being is having human emotions. We all have them. Some of us wear them on our sleeves; others keep them neatly tucked away and out of view. Some of us have words for every emotional experience we encounter, and others have no idea what we are feeling, at least not right away.
What’s great about emotions is that they serve as a guidance system for when something “doesn’t feel right.” When your body tenses up, it’s telling you there’s a feeling going on underneath that warrants your attention. When you “follow your heart,” emotions are telling the truth about something that is meaningful and important.
For those who find the language of emotions to be just a little bit foreign, this article is for you. I’m going to break it down into four simple types of emotions.
If you’re old enough, you might remember a nutritional guideline called The Four Basic Food Groups. Up until the early 90’s, kids were taught in school that Meat, Dairy, Grains, and Fruits/Vegetables are the four basic food groups. (The list has been broadened since then.)
When I think of the four basic human emotions, it reminds me of the four basic food groups: something that is simple and easy to grasp.
The four basic emotions are this: Mad, Sad, Glad, Scared.
Pretty simple, huh? It almost rhymes.
When you are trying to sort out what you feel in a given situation, you can run through the four basic emotions, and ask yourself, “Do I feel mad? Am I feeling sad? Does this make me glad? Or, am I feeling scared?”
When you’re feeling annoyed, resentful, ripped off, mistreated, impatient, frustrated, overloaded, disrespected, taken for granted, you are probably feeling some version of MAD.
When you are feeling lonely, missing something or someone, hurt, rejected, left out, unloved, hopeless, you are probably feeling some version of SAD.
When you are feeling excited, interested, looking forward to something, relieved, grateful, victorious, comfortable, satisfied, you are probably feeling some version of GLAD.
When you are feeling anxious, nervous, apprehensive, unsure, worried, trapped, unsafe, uncomfortable, not good enough, ashamed, you are probably feeling some version of SCARED.
When you identify what you feel and put your emotions into words (especially calm, level-headed words) you increase your emotional intelligence. And who needs emotional intelligence? Anyone who wants to successfully interact with people.
Understanding emotions, both yours and others, increases communication skills and reduces potential conflict. Strong communication skills have a direct correlation to healthy relationships and lower stress.
If you haven’t been fluent in the language of emotion so far, it’s never too late to learn. Afterall the emotions are already there. They’ve been there all along. It’s just a matter of getting better acquainted with them.
