15 Reasons Why Highly Emotional People Actually Live Better Lives
You cannot have a deep heart and not have an equally deep intellect, or so the saying goes.
Perhaps an attitude carried from the Age of Reason, emotions are more associated with madness than they are intelligence. Yet, like the way the feeling of a bone breaking will signal to us that we must care for our bodies, our emotions signal to us that we must care for our souls. The quality of our life is ultimately determined not by what happens, but how we feel about it. Here is why people who have strong emotions live better lives (despite the typical assumption of the contrary):
1. They’re more attuned to their needs. They are aware of when those needs are not being met, which more importantly indicates that they’re able to identify them in the first place.
2. They can utilize their “emotional navigation systems” more often. This means that they are less likely to stay in jobs that don’t suit them, or choose partners with whom they don’t authentically connect.
3. They’re able to pick up on unspoken social cues. They’re more prone to be able to “read people,” pick up on vibes, and utilize their “third eye,” or “gut instincts” more often, which, as we know, is a very important skill.
4. They develop stronger relationships. Because they are naturally more empathetic, they understand people at a more fundamental level. The basis of a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship is the ability to see and understand one another, which is why their relationships are stronger.
5. They’re intrinsically motivated. People who have strong emotions pursue things to facilitate them (make them feel better or worse). People who do not pursue things that elicit emotions and responses from other people to supplement for their own lack.
6. They are constantly growing. Personal growth is the product of first an inability to cope with emotion, and what we learn (and who we become) in the process of developing those skills. People who experience more emotions simply grow more quickly than those who don’t.
7. They care about something more than themselves. People who feel a lot inevitably channel that feeling toward something, even if it’s just their writing or their business or their family. They many not be devoted to many things, but when they are, they are committed completely.
8. They’re less likely to settle. There’s a difference between not wanting to be stuck in a monotonous routine, a lackluster relationship, and so on – and an actual inability to let yourself sink there (or stay there). People who stay in lives they’re unhappy with must, in some ways, suppress themselves… but people who are more sensitive to their feelings are less capable of doing so.
9. They are inclined to think more deeply. You cannot have a deep heart and not have an equally deep intellect, or so the saying goes.
10. They are essentially forced to process their feelings, rather than suppress them. Emotional suppression is basically the go-to coping mechanism most people rely on, yet, it’s the least effective (what you try not to focus on, you focus on tremendously). People with strong emotions are less capable of hiding them. (This is actually a great thing.)
11. They’re more inclined to experience “healthy shame.” Healthy shame is the kind of self-awareness that serial killers lack. People with a higher propensity to feel are less likely to do something that will hurt someone else, or make them feel guilty later on.
12. They’re more self-aware. The more you feel, the more you become conscious of. It’s as simple as that.
13. They’re better equipped to daydream, imagine and problem-solve. Most people don’t associate a great imagination with an intense capacity for emotion, but the two are one in the same. Most people also don’t associate a great imagination with the propensity to lead a great life, but again, the former in many ways must precede the latter.
14. They’re naturally interested in things. One of the most overlooked aspects of a truly happy life is one’s ability to take interest in the things around them.
15. They’re more authentic. It’s harder for them to pretend they like you if they don’t. It’s harder for them to lie about their response or opinion just to appease someone’s feelings. If taken to an unhealthy extreme, this is of course impolite at best, but generally speaking, it is a hidden gift to not be able to hide who you really are. 