All hate, destructive anger, and black-heartedness come from a well-known source. We must change the source of hate, bitterness, and all our mental darkness. So what is that source? We metaphorically call it the human heart. Here are a few questions we all want to be answered. How does the darkness develop in our hearts and consume us? How does it create crooked expressions and ridiculously false and distorted thinking? Our speech soon reflects the changes in our hearts, so most importantly, how do we get rid of anger and all the dark feelings that so quickly engulf us?
Our “Heart” as We Know It
By the year 1,000 AD the word heart was in figurative use in English. The heart was called the seat of our emotions — our core. Even today, we all continue to use the term metaphorically for the seat of our emotions. “The seat of our emotions” — that’s an interesting phrase. Emotions have a habit of taking a seat in our minds and often are hard to remove from their perceived right to the throne of our minds.
Which Come First — Thoughts or Feelings?
What goes on in our minds? Well, we think and we feel. Which comes first? Surprise! Feelings come first, not rational thoughts. Emotions are where the dominoes first begin to fall. Or we could rightly say, they are where the spring in our step originates. We can’t observe what goes on in the mind but we can observe the brain. That’s where some research has confirmed that emotions spark before the slower path of thinking gets underway. We can’t think about anything without first being motivated to do so with a feeling of some sort.
So how do we get rid of unwanted emotions at the source? First, we must get it firmly in our minds that we can’t just push unwanted emotions out. I’ve tried and failed. Have you? We need something more than mental force.
What Produces Changes In Our Heart?
The successful method is not to try to get rid of them, but rather to replace them with something else. Replacement is the un-trumpeted secret. Replacement can be thought of as changing our focus or forcing our attention on something else. Why is this so successful? Because what we give our attention to takes over the “seat of our emotions.” The throne of our minds is always given to things that we are paying attention to.
What Kind of Changes in Our Heart Will Work?
Can we change our attention? Of course. Think of this. You are starving and suddenly you see a plate of food on the table in front of you. Your attention and your emotions change instantly. What we see, hear, or gather via our senses and also what we decide to think about changes our focus immediately. So, the first thing to practice is just this: To bring changes to your heart, replace your unwanted emotions by paying attention to something else, or doing something different. Change your hate for love. Love someone or something by actions and word, and you will be able to dethrone your unwanted emotions, thus bringing changes to your heart. Change worry for hope, or pleasure, or kind actions, or anything that turns the light on in your mind, and you will have found the secret to bringing changes to your heart that dispel the black-heartedness.
(To be continued.)
Next, we will discover more about replacement and how to teach children (and ourselves) emotional control.
In my new book Who Am I?, I describe how we have become “crooked thinkers” and how to break out of this prison of the mind to become instruments of change for a better world by recognizing the source of our value as humans. You can get your copy HERE. (Psst! Subscribers to my weekly updates can receive a 15% discount and free shipping from that link!)
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