Every emotion you feel is energy.

It’s energy that starts in your mind and if you pay really close attention you can actually feel it move through your body.

Studies have shown that an emotion only has a life span of about 30 to 90 seconds. That’s probably as long as most adults can hold their breath.

So then why does an emotion seem to last longer?

Because you feed it.

You send energy to the emotion, giving it additional life. And in many cases, just as it begins to subside, you feed it again.

Why do you do this?

Well, I can’t answer that for you, but I can speculate.

You do this because you feel justified in doing so.

Because at some level you’re benefitting from the reward the emotion is giving you.

There’s an old Cherokee parable that illustrates my point beautifully.

An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life…

“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.

“One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.

“The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

“This same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,

“Which wolf will win?”

The old chief simply replied,

“The one you feed.”

So which emotions are you going to feed, and for how long?

Fortunately for you, that’s a choice you get to make throughout your day.

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