There are many emotions and we have thousands of names for them. There are as many reasons about what they are and why they exist too. So I want to simplify it for everyone. I’m not saying that this simplification is the be and end all why emotions are important, but I can guarantee it will give you a better grasp of what the purpose of emotions are. That’s what I feel anyway.
1. Emotions tells us whether or not we are reaching an outcome
Emotions have an implicit goal but they are part of a process (not the goal itself). That goal is about moving from what we perceive is a lower value to a higher value condition or relationship/s. When we identify something of higher value, we are charged with energy to get there and we want to get there rapidly. So we start to move towards that goal. If we find ourselves moving away from that goal, or our speed is restricted, our energy changes and we feel that shift as emotion. Pleasurable like feelings tell us we’re aligned to our goal and moving there as fast as possible. Painful feelings tell us the opposite.
2. Energy with a direction in motion (e-motion)
It might be a co-incidence that this idea is defined within the word emotion: e-motion, or energy in motion. We know something is in motion because it goes from one position to another. So motion is not without a direction or position. Energy is always going somewhere from somewhere. That energy in us is directed towards a specific outcome. If that outcome is a relationship one, say getting social group acceptance, then that social group breaks apart, we might feel the sadness of it, which tells us our purpose has changed, and we need to aim elsewhere.
So, one way to look at emotions are they are about helping us direct and refine our movement towards a target outcome. Because they are designed to do that, it's best we stay aware and present to our emotions.
Emotions are our primary moment to moment feedback of our experiences in the world.
