An emotion is our individual manner of putting meaningful labels on experiences; we do it each moment and we do it automatically. Emotions are experienced as a sense of pressure directly tied to a physical sensation in the body; for example anger signals urgency to fight, to abuse verbally or physically someone who has angered you. Anger is usually tied to the sensation of heat in the face and preparedness in the limbs. Anger tends to hold the meaning that we need to oppose a foe. Similarly, joy is a sense of urgency to immerse yourself in the goodness around you. Joy is usually felt as pleasant warmth across the whole chest, neck, and midsection. Joy tells us to pay attention so that we can remember to have this same experience again. We urge in different ways to allow the joy to continue.

Emotions have a long evolutionary history; they are adaptive, but they have evolved over time in order to increase our reproductive fitness. Emotion plays an important role in issues of survival, and it involves both cognition and behavior. Emotions serve an adaptive role in our lives by motivating us to act quickly and take actions that will maximize our chances of survival and success. Our emotions have a major influence on the decisions we make, from what we decide to have for breakfast/lunch/dinner to which candidates we choose to vote for in political elections.

Naturalist Charles Darwin believed that emotions are alterations that allow both humans and animals to survive and reproduce. When we are angry, we try to confront the source of our irritation. When we experience fear, we are likely to flee the threat. When we feel romantic, we go to seek out a mate and reproduce.

When we think about our emotions, we tend to think of them solely as states of feeling. Psychologist Robert Plutchik stated that there are eight basic emotions: joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, anticipation, anger, and disgust. Plutchik created the wheel of emotions, which illustrates the various relationships among the emotions.

Aristotle gave a systematic, practical account of the emotions and how they affect ethical actions and choices, which is the base of ethical theory. Aristotle stated that there is a special, interactive and reciprocal communication between the body and the mind (cognition). At the very core of the theory of emotions he comes up with is the idea that there are two types of emotion-based actions that go along with two basic emotion types: 1) some emotionally charged actions are much more cognitive than others and therefore we can say these actions are voluntary 2) some emotionally charged actions are so fast and intense that stopping them is almost impossible and therefore these actions are counter-voluntary.

Emotional intelligence is our ability to understand and manage emotions, has been shown to play an important role in decision-making. EI is also about recognizing and respecting other’s emotions. Emotional balance is the ability of the mind and body to maintain stability and flexibility in times of crisis in our life. Emotional balance promotes physical health, and is a precondition for our personal well-being and growth. What we experience as our mind is made up of our thoughts and emotions, and our happiness depends on us remaining in a balanced mental/emotional state. We all experience negative thoughts and emotions from time to time but if we stay in any state for too long we lose the ability to return to our balanced, neutral position which is called equanimity.

We basically find ourselves locked in number of negative states; such as anger, fear, worry, dissociation, self-sabotage or depression; agitation, impulsivity, anxiety, panic attacks and sleep trouble, lack of drive and motivation, or poor concentration. These stuck emotions run just below the level of realization, elusive yet often overpowering. These uncomfortable emotions can dominate our thinking process and give rise to incongruous reactions that impair our ability to be at our best.

Emotional balance facilitates our body and mind’s well-being by practicing emotional regulation and distress tolerance. Emotional regulation relates to identifying the emotions that are being felt in the moment, and observing them without being overwhelmed by them. Emotional regulation skills include self-soothing activities that help to reduce emotional intensity and provide a calming effect. It comes with meditation, calculated deep breathing, long walks, meeting friends regularly, taking short breaks from work and going for travels, yoga, listening to music you enjoy, progressive muscle relaxation, hiking, fishing, nurturing a hobby such as gardening, reading something pleasurable, spiritual practice, singing a favorite song, exercising, visualizing a comforting/relaxing image, journaling, etc.

You can practice some of these steps for striking the emotional balance:

Honor your emotion: A crucial reality of our life is to learn to acknowledge and express a full range of emotions; they can be negative or positive. The first step of balancing emotion is to honor an emotion; to realize the emotion and let go of it, if it’s negative. The fact is anger and sadness are an important part of life, and new research shows that experiencing and accepting such emotions are vital to our mental health. Acknowledging the complexity of life is in particular fruitful path to psychological well-being, https://www.urgentway.com/xanax-buy-now/.

Respond, don’t react: we gain emotional balance when we respond instead of reacting. It’s a fact that much of our lives we spend in reaction to others and to events around us. The problem is that these reactions are not always the best course of action, and as a result, they can make others unhappy, make things worse for us, and make the situation worse. The truth is we often react without thinking.

Have true compassion for your authentic self: Being authentic means that you act in ways that show your true self and how you feel. Rather than showing people only a particular side of yourself for impressing them. Instead, you express your whole self genuinely. That means to succeed in being authentic; you first need to know who your true self actually is.

Move on instead of getting stuck: It’s always better to get clarity about what is bothering you? Why? Whether you want to release the feeling or not? Honor the sadness, the mellowness, the opportunity to let your energy recede and flow and settle in a new way is the highest level of self-care. It is nice to just feel and not get attached to the thoughts. Do not force yourself to be happy or think positive, but just be; after a while move on.

Have gratitude for your existence: Do you feel thankful? It is truly a worthy and noble pursuit. Certainly, expressing thanks to all those who cross your path each day is a start. Being aware of those less fortunate than you, can also help you appreciate your blessings. Feeling of gratitude is most beneficial to balance your emotions. It also helps in balancing your life. To truly master gratitude, you must become grateful for it all. This means being grateful for the ups, the downs and the in-between. It means appreciating when times are easy, but also when times are hard.

Practice equanimity: It refers to a mind that is at peace even when you are stressful and in unpleasant experiences. It refers to one’s ability to stay relaxed and centered, in the midst of any situation. Equanimity is an acceptance of what is, the recognition of the truth of the moment. I think accepting reality is the beginning of balancing of emotions.

Most professionals spend more of their waking hours in the office than at home; we see our office collogues more and interact more with them than our family members. Naturally, we get more drawn to our office colleagues.  While our general philosophy of friendships may be “the more, the merrier,” making friends in the office has a distinctive set of pros and cons. While regular friendships depend on sharing trust, confidence, sharing our personal secrets, and confiding little or big problems in our friends, getting this close at work place with somebody has its drawbacks.

It’s a bit tricky to get close to somebody at workplace. We cannot hide away from competition, creation of new alliances, breaking of existing alliances, dependencies, backstabbing and gossiping. We become vulnerable if we are not aware of what is going on in the office politics. Often, our nonworking selves and relationships are significantly more casual than is warranted for a professional situation. And, if we try mix the two, the result may be messy politics and dynamics that can complicate our life both at work and at home. Another common problem can arise if you get promoted and your ‘friend’ is not – or your friend gets promoted and you don’t: promotions usually change workplace friendships.  People start resenting friends once they get promoted to higher positions.

Many researches show that people get attracted to their co-workers at the place of work; it is where the mainstream of couples meet. And, there’s a reason for this: unlike online dating, newspaper ads, singles events and speed dating, the office gives you a chance to actually get to know and even bond with a person before you assert your interest. Working side by side with someone daily, seeing him or her under pressure, sympathizing over problems and congratulating over wins gives you a portrait of the person on the inside as well as the outside. It’s the core of the person that matters in love and hence workplace provides the “best infrastructure” to fall in love. It’s the most ‘organic’ and ‘natural’ place for falling in love. These relationships often last for longer time, because they’re reality based then online dating or seeing a matrimonial ad.

Unfortunately, the same ingredients can make office connections tempting even to bond in extra marital affairs; this is the disadvantage and a concern. The reason so many people date in the workplace, even though it’s often terrible, is that it’s easy. You get to know someone well by working alongside them, observing them interacting with others, seeing them under stress. A lot of these relationships do work, and several end up in mess.

Mutual dependence on each other for work, working in a team on difficult and challenging projects, facing the same challenges and knowing the same set of people with their strengths and weaknesses helps in deepening the friendship among colleagues. Also, in big cities and  metros where usually workers stay alone in PG accommodation, and they feel homesick do in their initial tenures cling on to their coworkers;  it’s easier to go out on Friday evening to chill together directly from office with colleagues than make plans with people who live in different parts of the city. It’s quite normal.

Office environment becomes lighter and much healthier during lunch and tea breaks. Workers come together to chat, share jokes, discuss news, views, personal problems, personal news etc which relieves them from stress. It’s fun to be around friends and colleagues. Friendship benefits employees as they are able to give vent to their feelings and their stress levels become low. This automatically increases their productivity. The best places to work are the organizations which have open and friendly work cultures. Having friends at work makes individuals feel at ease and being themselves.

Though politicking cannot be avoided at workplace where betrayal of trust, competition, partiality, bias, jealousy and a sense of unfairness, money and power equations keep brewing, it is observed that employees who are friends are able to handle these differences in a better manner, thus, preserving a peaceful work environment. It is important to deal with problems straight away and avoid causing further conflict.

And, what about bosses being friendly with their subordinates – Is it good or bad? People like to work with people they like, and if you can develop a friendship with your subordinates, you’ll see more productivity. Your people will want to worker harder, and they probably might take on more challenges and cross their limitations for you. Do you tend to create such relationships? Think of your people one by one and ask, “If his performance slipped and didn’t improve, would I be able to terminate him? If she made repeated serious mistakes in spite of careful coaching, could I cut back her responsibilities or tell her she won’t get a raise?”

There are no hard-and-fast rules that govern how close a friendship should be between a boss and an employee. But there’s a general rule of thumb that boundaries must be created and respected; because the friendship can hinder the professionalism. There’s no question it can be lonely at the top, and making friends in the office when you’re the boss can be a nice solace. Just like there are pros to being friends with your employees, there is also a downside if the relationship isn’t managed properly. Managers have to be mindful of getting too close to one of his or her reports because it can make it hard to give out orders or worse appear inappropriate or unfair to the other employees in the office. That’s why experts say bosses have to set boundaries and stick to them. Yes it’s ok to go out for one or two drinks with staff after work but it’s not a good idea to stay out until 2:00 a.m. downing shots. Too much closeness with subordinates might bring in awkwardness in relationship. You might feel uncomfortable to give instructions. You might want to take a step back. Instead of being their drinking buddy, instead of hanging out with the regularly, you may use the friendship as a way to mentor them.

As a boss makes sure you are in control of the relationship. You should be in position to make tough decisions, give constructive feedback, keep sensitive information confidential, and be objectively alert. Ask yourself this question that as a leader are you effective?

Even a well-managed friendship can have some bumps along the road. Make sure that there has to be that defined line. Too often if you get friendly favors can be called in or expectations are going to be made. It can create a situation where other employees see it as favoritism. It’s ok to chat with employees and to ask about their family and weekend. It’s good to care and it’s important to show you are interested in who they are and what they are becoming as an employee and their personal growth. This doesn’t mean you don’t have great relationships with your employees. I just think you can do that best without being their ‘friend’.