Page 89 - Biblical Counseling II

Let’s look at one more chart that has to
do with emotions. Many psychologists
agree that all emotions fit onto the
following two-dimensional chart. You’ll
notice the horizontal line is unpleasant
on one end and pleasant on the other.
The vertical line has intense and mild
on opposite ends. Find the emotion
frustrated. This is an unpleasant
emotion and can be somewhat intense,
depending on the situation. Notice its
location on the chart. Does its location
make sense to you? Now find tired. It is
located by mild as it is not a very
intense emotion, and it is not an
unpleasant feeling. One more. Find
happiness. Happy is pleasant but not
very intense. If you can think of
emotions not on this chart, decide
where you would place them. You will see that every emotion fits somewhere within these two dimensions.

Let’s take a closer look at three of these emotions. First, we will read about happiness. What function does it
serve? What influences our experience of each? Then we will spend time reading about fear and anger in a
separate section.

Happiness

But may the righteous be glad
and rejoice before God;
may they be happy and joyful.

4 Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds;
rejoice before him—his name is the LORD.
5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.

Psalm 68:3-5

What are the causes and consequences of happiness?

“How to gain, how to keep, how to recover happiness is in fact for most men at all times the secret motive
for all they do,” observed William James. This is understandably so, for one’s state of happiness or
unhappiness colors everything. Happy people perceive the world as safer, feel more confident, make
decisions more easily, rate job applicants more favorably, are more cooperative and tolerant, and live
healthier, more energized, and satisfied lives. When your mood is gloomy and your thinking preoccupied, life
as a whole seems depressing and meaningless. Let your mood brighten, and your thinking broadens and
becomes more playful and creative. Your relationships, your self-image, and your hopes for the future also
seem more promising. Positive emotions fuel upward spirals.
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