What Are Positive Emotions?

Positive emotions are emotions that we typically find pleasurable to experience.

Positive emotions that lead one to feel good about one’s self will lead to an emotionally
happy and satisfied result.

What Are Negative Emotions?

Those that we typically do not find pleasurable to experience. Negative emotions can
be defined as “as an unpleasant or unhappy emotion which is evoked in individuals to
express a negative effect towards an event or person” (Pam, 2013). Negative emotions sap
your energy and undermine your effectiveness. In the negative emotional state, you find
lack of desire to do anything. This means that, if your emotion discourages and drags you
down, then it’s most likely that it gives you a negative emotion.

Negative Emotions
1. Discomfort
Discomfort comes in the form of impatience, boredom, mild embarrassment,
unease, or distress. These emotions let you know that something is not quite right;
your perception of a situation may be skewed, or your actions may not be creating
the results you want.
2. Fear
Fear encompasses apprehension, concern, anxiety, worry, fright, and terror.
The purpose of fear is to urge you to prepare to deal with a situation or prepare to
change a situation. Don’t allow yourself to amplify fear by imaging the worst-case-
scenarios, or to pretend the fear doesn’t exist.
3. Hurt
When you feel hurt, it generally means that you feel a sense of loss, and that
loss typically comes from an unmet expectation. For example, if you expected your
friend not to tell anyone something you shared—even if you never explicitly
expressed this expectation—and they shared it with someone else, you probably feel
a loss of intimacy or trust.
4. Anger
You can feel anger through irritation, resentment, fury, or rage. Feelings of
anger let you know that you or someone else has violated a rule or standard that is
important to you. They are the conditions you decide must happen in order for you to
feel that something has been satisfied or fulfilled.
5. Frustration
Frustration is actually a positive signal because it means that you’re within
reach of something you want, but the methods you’re using to get there aren’t
working. This is a sign that you need to change your approach to get what you want.
6. Disappointment
Disappointment can feel like sadness, defeat, being let down, or feeling like
you’ve missed out on something. Disappointment is similar to frustration because it’s
a sign that you’re falling short of your goal; whereas, frustration signals that your
goal is achievable if you change your approach, disappointment signals that your
goal is impossible to achieve.
7. Guilt
Guilt, remorse, and regret are all in the same family of emotions. Guilt arises
when you break one of the highest standards you set for yourself, and it’s meant to
deter you from ever violating that standard again. Most people want to avoid guilt
more than almost any other emotion which means that it’s a powerful motivator
(pain avoidance).
8. Inadequacy
Inadequacy is the feeling of being unworthy because you can’t do something
that you believe you should be able to do. This emotion signals that you may not
 have the right tools, resources, strategies, knowledge, or confidence to perform this
task.
9. Overload or Overwhelm
When you feel that you’re facing problems that are beyond your control and
that provide no empowering lessons, you’re likely to feel overwhelmed, overloaded,
depressed, aggrieved, or helpless. This means that you feel that you can’t deal with
the quantity, intensity, or pace of problems coming at you—and you’re right. This
emotion signals that you’re trying to deal with too much at once, and that it’s
infeasible.
10. Loneliness
Loneliness can cause you to feel alone or somehow separate from others. This
emotion signals that you need connection with other people.

Positive Emotions
1. Love and warmth are among the strongest antidotes to negative emotions. If
someone approaches you with anger or another painful emotion and you continually
respond with love and warmth, you will eventually soften their negative emotion.
2. Appreciation and gratitude show your love for the gifts you’ve been given in life,
and cultivating these emotions raises your quality of life.
3. Curiosity infuses your life with wonder and makes you want to do things that may
have previously seemed unappealing which can lead to empowering experiences.
4. Excitement and passion increase your energy and enthusiasm toward life.
Passion inspires you to progress toward your goals more quickly because it turns
challenges into opportunities.
5. Determination is the difference between succumbing to challenges and
overcoming them. You need determination in order to accomplish your goals and
improve your life. Determination requires courage to carry on in spite of challenges,
and courage banishes frustration and disappointment.
6. Flexibility aids your determination because it allows you to adjust your approach
when needed which can make the difference between failure and success. If you’re
too rigid and refuse to be flexible, then you’ll inevitably become stuck in the face of
an obstacle.
7. Confidence gives you the strength to carry on in spite of uncertain challenges and
outcomes. Cultivate confidence by having faith in your ability to do something and
reach your goals. The more you practice being confident, the more you will feel
confident.
8. Cheerfulness goes beyond feeling inwardly happy—cheerfulness spreads
happiness to those around you while also vanquishing painful feelings such as
anger, depression, disappointment, fear, frustration, guilt, hurt, and inadequacy.
Being cheerful doesn’t mean that you deny having challenges. But what you feel
assured that you have the tools to overcome them which raises your self-esteem.
9. Physical vitality is essential so that you can enjoy the other power emotions to the
fullest. Many emotions start in your physiology, meaning that there are physical
adjustments you can make to improve your emotional health. For example, make
sure that you’re getting enough sleep (six to seven hours is optimal) and breathing
in a way that circulates enough oxygen throughout your body, both of which will
energize you.
10. Contribution—or giving back to those around you and the world as a whole— is
the key to living a rich and fulfilling life. Improving someone else’s life and making
others feel better are two of the most powerful ways to improve your own life.
However, contribution does not equate to martyrdom; be sure to continue taking
care of yourself as you help others.