We live in a world, surrounded by external stimuli. We perceive stimuli in a variety of ways, some consciously and some not, and we have internal reactions. Certain stimuli trigger emotion-responses. Emotion-responses are innate.

Some examples of emotions [based on the research of Paul Ekman]: anger, disgust, embarrassment, excitement, fear, guilt, joy, pride in achievement, relief, sadness, satisfaction, sensory pleasure, shame, and surprise.

When emotions are triggered automatic body chemistry kicks in. This chemistry has been pre-concocted to bring about physiological change which will accompany/cause behavioural change.  Most of us are aware when our emotions kick in. We feel internal changes and our behaviour changes. All of us, with some diligent work, can thoroughly understand the nature and implications of our emotions, why they are happening and what impact they have on our thoughts and our behaviour. When we take the time to study our emotion-responses we have the opportunity to replace unplanned emotion-driven activity with well-thought-through, logical post-emotion activity.  Like any other desired behavior, this will require effort and practice in order to develop the emotion-response skills we desire.

The first step is to understand emotions...

Paul Ekman’s research provides a helpful ‘platform’ for understanding emotions.

In summary, emotions are not the feelings/mindsets/thoughts we carry around in our brains. Emotions are the short-lived automatic responses our bodies have when exposed to certain stimuli, particularly external stimuli. A commonly-cited example is the emotion of fear. When lions charge at us and we see that happening our bodies, without any conscious effort on our part, quickly generate/release chemicals to prepare us for fight or flight. That’s one example of how the emotion of 'fear' can be triggered.

More thoughts about the emotion called 'fear'.

The next step is to understand our [personal] emotion-responses…