Today, I'm going to talk about people who have no idea about their thoughts or emotions, and how dangerous they can be for all of our health. I can see why we try to avoid our emotions; most of the time they make us suffer even more than physical pain, which is why we spend most of our waking hours trying to avoid or bury them. (See AA or NA or really any of the the A's). We also feel joy and happiness but those are much rarer than the old anxiety, anger and freaked out states many of us (me) live in. As humans we've accomplished miracles cognitively from hair implants to drones that can shave your legs from outer space but do we know anything about our emotions? No, we do not.
This unawareness of our thoughts, emotions and therefore behaviors and decisions, makes racists of us all. Only if we become conscious can we recognise our prejudice and who has time to do that in this world? Let alone even want to try? We all assume that our views are correct and that everyone surely must see things the way we do or they are badly misguided. We need to understand this is the way we're wired. As an example - if we meet just one person with a beard who may have scared us even accidentally when we were young, we blame the entire bearded race. This includes Muslims and people dressed as Santa. Even if we read about a bad guy with a beard it shapes our mind toward bias.
I don't think I need to pound this one home but when I see a man with a short little moustache under his nose and a hairdo with a side parting, I run for the attic.
We all have specific features embedded in our minds which we react emotionally to without knowing why. When we see those features of the 'other' the cortisol flows, which blitzes all rational thinking. This cycle of fear and irrationality keeps going until someone declares war. We get into the 'them' and 'us' mode, based on something we're not even aware of. We now have Trump at the wheel of the car who has no emotional insight whatsoever. This is like having a live grenade in the White House who may go off at any moment and take the world down with him. Happy New Year.
Want to learn more about your emotions, and being conscious in your decisions? You can buy Ruby's no. 1 best selling book A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled online and from all good bookshops.
Ruby is on tour in the UK and Australia throughout 2017 with her #Frazzled Show - tickets on sale now.
If you want to be the first to know when Ruby's next book will be published, as well as exclusive news, special offers and other things that might be useful to you, just tell Ruby where to get in touch.