Bad Emotions vs. Evil Emotions

Noted psychologist and author M. Scott Peck once asked his son to define evil. The little boys response was ‘live spelt backward’. Dr Peck used his sons point to define evil in his book ‘People of The Lie: South of McCowan Rd RT on Ellesmere  a Psychology of Evil’. Evil people, and evil in general, in Pecks perspective, were those things that took the quality from life, the joy, the good, and eventually life itself.

 

Evil is a topic we don’t like much in our society. For good reason. For centauries people have misused it to class entire groups of people as creatures of darkness in some way. From witch hunts to racism evil has been a label under which much evil has been done. And I would agree that much human evil is really shades of gray, and the label itself invites trouble.  The problem is that there is still evil, in that there are still things that destroy life; and emotions can be evil.

A few weeks ago I was listening to a seminars on mental health by a professional in the field. During the series this professional presented, anger, anxiety, and sadness as emotions we were supposed to move away from, and into joy, and various other words for happy. It all sounded very nice, sadly it was not true. All emotion has the potential for good, and the potential for evil. In that when understood properly they can add to your life. When they are left unchecked they can destroy your life.

It is a common mistake to think of bad feeling as evil. In that we equate them to things that are dangerous or destructive and to be avoided.  The problem with that is that feeling bad is often good. When we make mistakes we feel shame, it helps us not to make them again. When we lose a loved one we get sad, as we should, the mourning process helps us to honor the life that was lost. Even Anger has it place, in that it can sharpen our wits, and helps us protect ourselves in dangerous situations. Though I would characterize good ager as passion, and assertiviness, it is still Anger.  Anxiety is often our first warning coming into a dangerous situation.  One of the best books every written for teaching people how to handle themselves around dangerous people is called the “Gift of Fear” by Gavin De Becker; described by Opera as a “Book every woman should read”.

Bad feelings may make us feel uncomfortable, but they are not evil. They don’t destroy life, unless they become your life. Momentary Anxiety is wise and good, constant anxiety is a sign that something is wrong. Weather you believe life evolved, or was created, emotions did not end up in you by chance. They serve a purpose in life. Joy and love are certainly good as lifestyles, bad feelings are better as an alarm system, but a life devoid of either is no kind of life.

Love is a good emotion, and our lives are better the more thay are characterized by love. But love can blind us to the faults in our beloved. Women and men in abusive relationships of all kinds can attest to this. Love of Country gone awry has been the cause of countless wars and suffering. Joy is good, but joy can blind us to dangers. Like the euphoria a good sales person can muster in us before we are sold something we really don’t need.   All feelings, properly expressed, add to the quality of our life, but any of them out of balance can destroy our lives.

Aristotle said “Anyone can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person at the right time, and for the right purpose and in the right way - that is not within everyone's power and that is not easy” One could apply this quote to any emotion.

Remember bad feelings aren’t evil. Feelings are powerful tools. If understood properly they add to your life regardless of how they make you feel. It’s when they fall out of balance that that we have to be concerned about them. If you’re concerned about your feelings, let us help you.  Come and see us at www.lifetoolsonline.com. And follow us on twitter www.twitter.com/lifetoolsonline
Recommended reading:

People of the Lie
By M. Scott Peck Book Review

The Gift of Fear
By Gavin De Becker

-Charles Gordon