How are you feeling?

I was thinking, which is a bad idea anyway… but in this case, thinking creatively to help you understand something. We often get hung up with how we feel. And you ever notice that we tend to get hung up on the negative emotions more than the positive emotions. As it’s said in Buddhism, a few key reasons for suffering is our clinging, our aversions, and cravings. We crave good feelings, and push away unpleasant feelings. In truth‚ most of what we feel are “neutral.” Neither good or bad. So why cling to the negative? Because we don’t like it. It scares us. We don’t like being uncomfortable, and we prefer warmth—comforts.

It’s wise to practice sitting with it all. Being 100% present for all of it, no matter what it is. And accept the deep truth that (1) it’s usually neutral if you are honest… (2) that good and bad, all pass… never permanent. And (3) third, that we not only welcome all of it and accept it and be the observer of it, but learn to FOCUS on the positive side of it all. One example is that you might be “sad” but in reality, you have love for something, and that’s a “good” thing! So be careful about what you “think” you feel. And here is a rough list of many of the emotions or feelings we can have throughout a day. All of these, not just one or two— in fact, most of this list I assembled over only a few days!

A list of common feelings we can have each day:

abandoned

acceptance

adoration

affection

aggravated

agitated

agressive

alert

amazed

ambitious

amused

anger, anger2

animosity

annoyed

anticipation

anxiousness

appreciative

apprehensive

ardent

aroused

ashamed

astonished

attraction (sexual)

attraction (intellectual)

attraction (spiritual)

awed

betrayed

bewildered

bitter

bliss

blue

boastful

bored

breathless

bubbly

calamitous

calm

camaraderie

cautious

cheerful

cocky

cold

collected

comfortable

compassionate

concerned

confident

confused

contempt

content

courageous

cowardly

crafty

cranky

crazy

cruelty

crummy

crushed

curious

cynic

dark

dejected

delighted

delirious

denial

depression

desire poem

despair

determined

devastated

disappointed

discouraged

disgust

disheartened

dismal

dispirited

distracted

distressed

dopey

down

dreadful

dreary

eager

ecstatic

embarrassed

emotional-detest

empathic

emptiness

enchanted

enigmatic

enlightened

enraged

enthralled

enthusiastic

envy

euphoric

excited

exhausted

expectation

exuberance

fascinated

fear

flabbergasted

fight-or-flight

foolish

frazzled

freaked out

frustrated

fulfillment

furious

gay

giddy

gleeful

gloomy

goofy

grateful

gratified

greedy

Gray because of a Broken Heart

grief

grouchy

grudging

guilty

happy 

hate

heartbroken

homesick

hopeful

hopeless

horrified

horrible

hostile

humiliated

humored

hurt

hyper

hysterical

indignation

infatuation

infuriated

inner peace

innocent

insanity

insecure

insecure

inspired

interest

intimidated

invidious

irate

irritability

irritated

jaded

jealousy

joy

jubilant

kind

lazy

left out

liberated

lively

loathsome

lonely

longing

love

lovesick

loyal

lust

mad

mean

melancholic

mellow

mercy

merry

mildness

miserable

morbid

mourning

needed

needy

nervous

obscene

obsessed

offended

optimistic

outraged

overwhelmed

pacified

pain

panicky

paranoia

passion

pathetic

peaceful

perturbation

pessimistic

petrified

pity

playful

pleased

pleasure

possessive

pride

provoked

proud

puzzled

rage

regretful

relief

remorse

resentment

resignation

resolved

sad

sadness

satisfied

scared

scorn

selfish

sensual

sensitive

sexy

shame

sheepish

shocked

shy

sick

sickly

sickened

sincerity

solemn

somber

sorrow

sorry

spirited

stressed

strong

submissive

superior

surprised

sweet

sympathetic

temperamental

tense

terrified

threatened

thrilled

tired

tranquil

troubled

trust

tormented

uncertainty

uneasiness

unhappy

upset

vengeful

vicious

warm

weary

worn-out

worried

worthless

wrathful

yearning

zesty

zippy