Emotional Responsiveness

How emotionally responsive are you, dear reader?

Care to take a quiz?

Are you:

1. High voltage: quick to react, emotionally charged and motivated to respond... one of those escalated types that gets hyped and ramped up easily and quickly, when you feel strongly about a subject or situation

2. Slightly moved: you feel something, but aren't compelled to get up right away and do anything about what you see or hear. You are inclined to have a reaction, minus a driving force motivating you to show your feelings

3. Dead pan: what, something just happened? Why is everyone freaking out? Is this really a big deal, or can I go back to my crossword and pretzels? I don't get the commotion. Emotional FREAKS are everywhere

4. Back it up: I can't believe he/she said that, that really hurts. I gotta get outta here. These people don't care about me. I would rather be alone, keep myself from their attacks. I knew I couldn't trust them; everyone's the same 

Self-assessment

I have to take a moment and decide which one of the four categories I fall into, and whether or not I have changed over the years, making this one of those progression or digression exercises and questions!

While you are figuring yourself out over there, I am going to work through this quiz in front of you.

I think I used to be rather high voltage and emotionally charged. I was, and still am in many ways, motivated to respond to situations I see happening all around me. Now, the question is, am I naturally high voltage, or was this learned behaviour, something I can blame on nurture, rather than nature? 

My parents both had explosive emotional reactions that in hindsight, didn't have a pattern I could discern: a child's perspective is a difficult one since they don't have the emotional maturity to understand what is happening, nor the words to explain what they are seeing and hearing. The why of situational emotions is rarely answered. 

My parents didn't explain their intensity, I had to interpret it. This was stupefying to me as a little person. Other people's big expressions sometimes dumb down our own capability to emote: plus, children are often taught to be silent in the face of a parent that gives themselves permission to express anger... their is a size and strength imbalance, to say the least. As I aged, and developed the ability to separate myself from other, I had more time to think and figure out, what charges me up, if anything at all? What do I feel deeply or strongly about, enough to react, speak my piece/peace, state a case, have an opinion, step into the fray... 

The high voltage part of me is always connected to injustice; the maiming, injuring or hurting the vulnerable, the unsuspecting, the sweet and kind amongst us, that deserve to be treated gently. My nostrils flare and my heart races, the upper lip begins to lift on the left, and I could, if in the right situation, go after a would be perpetrator... someone that preys on others for fun or personal gain.  

As a mature adult, I can see that what I learned (nurture) growing up, was to have an opinion. I am so grateful for this! Now, this being said, I reiterate that while I am a mature adult, I know that high voltage reactions of the emotional variety, do not serve me, or necessarily anyone else, very well. Emotions colour thinking, and a cool head is more trustworthy than a hot one!

So... I am a 1-2... I feel, but I am not always driven or motivated to act. I choose my battles, and when I experience a super charge, I give myself time to cool my jets. This is known as self-control, discipline, conservatism, temperance. Time alone to think, to pray, to check in with someone trustworthy, to read God's Word, all help me sort what my feelings mean, and what I am to do with them. Here is the formula I offer you:

Emotions: 

INFORM us to use good judgment and ought to 

INSTRUCT us in the words we speak, and the actions we take, in order to;

INFLUENCE outcomes

You, influence others, dear reader. You, have impact. You, make a difference.

Our emotions are internal barometers giving us a read on what we are perceiving. We have to check in and figure out, what is going on inside of me that I need to sort and direct productively, for my own sake and the sake of those that share living and working space with me. 

When you scroll to the quiz, ask yourself:

● Am I a hot head, sparks a flyin' with my emotions on fiery display

● Am I a cool customer, able to assess people, places and things, with a sound mind

● Am I emotionally flat and disconnected, self-absorbed and disinterested in other

● Am I emotionally immature, fearful, and inclined to self-protective preservation

It wouldn't hurt if you got a pen and some paper, and figured some of these things out, dear reader. Well, this was fun, I hope you enjoyed yourself too?! Before we part ways:

NOTE UNO: I made the quiz up. It is officially a work of my own creation, based on self and other observation, and some take aways from my graphoanalysis text book. 

Feel free to use it to label your own friends and family 😂 ... 

NOTE x DEUX: Hello, what do you think text book writers do? They make up their own stuff, presenting themselves as clever smarty-pantsz, and get people to believe they know it all... half the "research" study reports we read and believe are BOGUS for goodness sakes. Fudging statistical figures is what people do to get grants paid for by sponsors to promote PROPAGANDA. 

NOTE x TRITOS: This writer, the one that calls you dear reader, is an unpaid partisan. I belong to the FREEDOM party, as in the Truth will make you FREE...

I rely on Providence to pay my way, and I cannot be bought, sold, rented out, mortgaged, reassigned, rearranged, dismissed, muted. 

⁉️ How about you, dear one? 

⁉️ To whom do you pledge allegiance, and belong?