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In most of the personal growth advice you will read, positive emotions are considered the goal. We think to ourselves, 'I'm going to do this, this, and this and that will make me happier, more optimistic, and more outgoing.'
And you know what, there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, there are many, many different techniques, exercises, and strategies that you can use to achieve those goals.
The best way to achieve those ends would probably elude you though, because it is so simple, most of us don't even think about it.
It turns out that one of the best ways to build up and create positive emotions is by having positive emotions.
Like most of the really useful techniques and exercises in personal growth, this comes from psychology. The theory is called the Broaden and Build theory, and it's a fairly simple one.
Negative Emotions Lead to more Negative Emotions
Because of the way our brains are wired up, negative emotions tend to cause restricted, short term survival oriented behavior. For anyone familiar with Maslow's hierarchy of needs, another way to put this would be to say that negative emotions tend to make us focus on the two bottom levels of the hierarchy, which are:
·Safety needs - safety of our job, of our body, of property, and our immediate health
·Physiological needs - concern for food, water, sleep, and breathing
The really important thing to understand is that this focus feeds on itself in a positive feedback loop. That means that focusing on negative emotions will make you focus even more on negative emotions, and your focus will slide farther and farther towards the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
It's a vicious cycle that a lot of people struggle to escape from.
Positive Emotions Lead to more Positive Emotions
The good news though is that positive emotions work in the same way, which is where the broadening and building comes in.
When we experience positive emotions, our brains lose that narrow focus, the horizons of our mind expand, and we experience varied and novel thoughts and actions which encourages us to explore the world.
And just like negative emotions, positive emotions build on themselves. So experiencing positive emotions leads to more positive emotions and an even broader view of everything around us. This build up of positive emotions affects many, many different areas of our lives. Here are just a few examples.
The Benefits of Positive Emotions
The Broaden and Build theory shows that positive emotions build:
·Attention and Focus - When we're experiencing negative emotions we tend to 'miss the forest for the trees'. When we are experiencing positive emotions, our attention and focus are broadened and deepened.
·Scope of Cognition - Positive emotions cause us to see more interconnection in the world, be more flexible in our thinking, and see more relation and integration in our thoughts and ideas. All these things add up to a big increase in creative thinking.
·Better Relationships - Unhappy couples tend to interact in structured, predictable, and rigid ways. In contrast, happy couples interact in more unpredictable, natural, flowing way. Additionally, happy couples actually build up a surplus of positive sentiments for their partner and their marriage. This surplus acts like a buffer against negative emotions and conflict.
·Resilience to Negative Emotions - Positive emotions actually help to override negative emotions. It has been shown that "individuals who express or report higher levels of positive emotion show more constructive and flexible coping, more abstract and long-term thinking, and greater emotional distance following stressful negative events."
The benefits of positive emotions are clearly varied and extremely substantial. The next thing we need to look at is how to bring more positive emotions into our lives.
4 Ways to Create Positive Emotions
There are many excellent ways to bring positive emotions into our lives. Here are just a few that research has shown to be particularly effective:
Do Relaxation Techniques - Relaxation techniques includes things like meditation, yoga, and muscle relaxation exercises. The primary positive emotion associated with relaxation techniques is contentment. Contentment is particularly good for reversing negative emotions and building resilience to negative emotions.
Find Positive Meaning - Finding positive meaning works in three different ways:
1.Reframing adverse events in a positive light (also called positive reappraisal)
2.Infusing ordinary events with positive value
3.Pursuing and attaining realistic goals
The trick to finding more positive meaning in your life is to just be constantly mindful of it. Evaluate every situation you're in and try to apply those three ways to find positive meaning. The payoff is that people who find a lot of positive meaning in their lives will experience more of the whole range of positive emotions.
Just Smile - Our brains don't know the difference between a real smile and a fake smile, so when you fake a smile, your brain responds in the same way (releases the same 'happy chemicals') that it would if your smile had been genuine. So even faking positive emotions can have a real, positive impact.
Do Something you Love - Some of my favorites are playing soccer, reading, and cooking. These things relax me, make me feel good, and let me forget about the world for awhile. Everyone's favorites will be different and unique. Make sure you know what your favorites are and make sure they are always close at hand.
Remember that positive emotions are only one half of the equation. Negative emotions can be a serious detriment to any progress you make with positive emotions, so be sure to squash negative emotions as they come and replace them quickly with something more positive.
在你读到的大部分有关个人成长建议方面,积极的情感被当作目标.我们自己会这样想:我要做这个、这个、还有这个，这会让我更开心、更乐观和更外向。
而你知道，这本身没有什么错。事实上，有许许多多不同的技术、练习和战略可助你达到这些目标。达成目标的最好途径可能规避，因为它是如此简单，我们很多人甚至都没想过这个问题。
结果表明建立创建正面感情的方法之一是具有正面情感
个人成长方面的最有效方法来自于心理学。这就是拓宽和建设理论，非常简单。
负面情绪会导致更负面的情绪
由于我们的大脑联系方式，负面情绪通常导致有限的短期求生性行为。任何熟悉马斯洛需求层次理论的人，理论它的另一个方式是说，负面情绪会让我们专注于最底层的两个层次上，即：
安全的需要：包括我们对工作、身体、财产和当前健康的安全需要
心理需求：关心食物、水、睡眠和呼吸。
要理解的真正重要的一点是，这种焦点输入在一个正面的反馈回路中。意思是说，集中在负面情绪上会让你更集中在负面情绪中，关注旧中国会走得更远，直到马斯洛需求层次的最底层。
这是许多人努力摆脱的恶性循环。
正面情绪会带来更正面的情绪
但是好消息是正面情绪作用方式是一样的，它是扩展和建设项目的原因。
当我们经历正面情绪的时候，我们的大脑失去实窄的关注点，心智扩展，并经历不同的创新性想法和行为，能鼓励我们探索世界。
正如同负面情绪一样，正面情绪也建立在自身基础上。因此，正面的情绪会带来更正面的情绪，甚至拓展我们对周围所有事物的看法。这种正面情绪的建立影响到我们生活中的许多方面。下面就是一些例子。
正面情绪的好处：
建设与拓展理论表明正面情绪可建设：
注意力和专注度：当我们感受负面情绪是，我们往往“只见树木不见森林”。当我们感受正面情绪时，我们的注意力和焦点都得到拓宽和深化。
认知范围：正面情绪使我们看到世界上更多的互相关联，在思考中会更灵活，在思想观念中会有更多关联和整合。所有这些加起来，会达成创造新思维的巨大增长。
更好的关系：怨偶往往以一种结构化的可预测的刚性方式互相影响。相反，快乐夫妻以更不可预测的、自然的流畅方式互相影响。另外，快乐夫妻确实能在婚姻和伙伴关系中建立更多的正面情感。这种更多的正面情绪具有缓和负面情绪和冲突的作用。
恢复到负面情绪：正面情绪确实能帮助克服负面情绪。已表明“表达更高程度的正面情绪的个人表现出更有建设性和更灵活的处理能力，思维更抽象更长期，处理压力负面事件更理性”。
正面情绪的好处明显不同并极为实质。下面我们要看的另一个总是是怎么样把正面情绪带入我们生活中。
创建正面情绪的种方法：
有许多很好的方法把正面情绪带入生活。下面是一些研究表明特别有效的：
放松的方法：放松方法包括冥想、瑜伽、肌肉放松练习。与放松方法有关的基本正面情绪是满足。满足感对逆转负面情绪、从负面情绪中恢复特别有用。
寻找正面的意义：这种方法从三个方面产生效果：
1． 以正面眼光重建不利事物（也称作正面重新评估）
2． 将正面价值注入普通事物
3． 追求实现现实目标
发现生活中更正面意义的技巧就是不断留心它。评估自己所处的情况，努力应用这三种方法找到正面意义。结果就是在生活中找到许多正面意义的人会感受更多正面情绪。
保持微笑：我们的大脑并不能区别真实的微笑和装出的微笑，因此当你装笑时，大脑反应方式是一样的，都会释放出同樟的快乐化学物，久之，你的微笑就会变成真的。因此，就算是装出一种正面情绪也可以具有真实的正面影响。
做自己热爱的事情：我爱好足球、阅读和烹饪。这些事情能让我放松，让我感觉良好，让我忘记世界片刻。每个人的爱好都很独特，各不相同。确信了解自己的爱好，确信是伸手可及的。
记住，正面情绪还只是等式的一半。负面情绪也可以是你用正面情绪构建的程序的损害因素，因此，当负面情绪来临的时候一定要压制住，并迅速用一些更积极的东西取代它。
