I LIKE IT, YOU LOVE IT

The Five Natural Emotions


  Grief is a natural emotion. It's that part of you which allows you to
  say goodbye when you don't want to say goodbye; to express -- push
  out -- the sadness within you at the experience of any kind of
  loss. It could be the loss of a loved one, or the loss of a contact
  lens.

  When you are allowed to express your grief, you get rid of
  it. Children who are allowed to be sad when they are sad feel very
  healthy about sadness when they are adults, and therefore usually
  move through sadness very quickly.

  Children who are told, 'there, there, don't cry,' have a hard time
  crying as adults. After all, they've been told all their life not to
  do that. So they repress their grief. Grief that is continually
  repressed becomes chronic depression, a very unnatural emotion.

  People have killed because of chronic depression. Wars have started,
  nations have fallen.

  Anger is a natural emotion. it is the tool you have which allows you
  to say, 'no, thank you.' It does not have to be abusive, and it
  never has to be damaging to another.

  When children are allowed to express their anger, they bring a very
  healthy attitude about it to their adult years, and therefore
  usually move through their anger very quickly.

  Children who are made to feel that their anger is not okay -- that
  it is wrong to express it, and in fact, that they shouldn't even
  experience it -- will have a difficult time appropriately dealing
  with their anger as adults.

  Anger that is continually repressed becomes rage, a very unnatural
  emotion.

  People have killed because of rage. Wars have started, nations have
  fallen.

  Envy is a natural emotion. It is the emotion that makes a
  five-year-old wish he could reach the doorknob the way his sister
  can-- or ride that bike. Envy is the natural emotion that makes you
  want to do it again, try harder, to continue striving until you
  succeed. It is very healthy to be envious, very natural. When
  children are allowed to express their envy, they bring a very
  healthy attitude about it to their adult years, and therefore usually
  move through their envy very quickly. Children who are made to feel
  that envy is not okay -- that it is wrong to express it, and, in
  fact, that they shouldn't even experience it -- will have a
  difficult time appropriately dealing with their envy as adults.

  Envy that is continually repressed becomes jealousy, a very
  unnatural emotion.

  People have been killed because of jealousy. Wars have started,
  nations have fallen.

  Fear is a natural emotion. All babies are born with only two fears:
  the fear of falling, and the fear of loud noises. All other fears
  are learned responses, brought to the child by its environment,
  taught to the child by its parents. The purpose of natural fear is
  to build in a bit of caution. Caution is a tool that helps keep the
  body alive. It is an outgrowth of love. Love of Self.

  Children who are made to feel that fear is not okay -- that it is
  wrong to express it, and in fact, that they shouldn't even
  experience it-- will have a difficult time appropriately dealing
  with their fear as adults.

  Fear that is continually repressed becomes panic, a very unnatural
  emotion.

  People have killed because of panic. Wars have started, nations have
  fallen.

  Love is a natural emotion. When it is allowed to be expressed, and
  received, by a child, normally and naturally without limitation or
  condition, inhibition, or embarrassment, it does not require
  anything more. For the joy of love expressed and received in this
  way is sufficient unto itself. Yet love which has been conditioned,
  limited, warped by rules and regulations, rituals and restrictions,
  controlled, manipulated, and withheld, becomes unnatural.

  Children who are made to feel that their natural love is not okay --
  that it is wrong to express it, and in fact, they shouldn't even
  experience it-- will have a difficult time appropriately dealing
  with love as adults.

  Love that is continually repressed becomes possessiveness, a very
  unnatural emotion.

  People have been killed because of possessiveness. Wars have
  started, nations have fallen.

  And so it is that the natural emotions, when repressed, produce
  unnatural reactions and responses. And most natural emotions are
  repressed in most people. Yet these are your friends. These are your
  gifts. These are your divine tools, with which to craft your
  experience.

  You are given these tools at birth. They are to help you negotiate
  your life.