The second class in the Smart module of the book that never was is “Emotion Chemistry.”  This class will take the reader into the lab to observe emotions at play.

Section one is Exploring the Table of Emotions

As there is a Table of the Elements of Life, there can also be a Table of Emotions.  Your emotions direct your actions.  Anyone who has ever lost his or her temper knows this is true.

Knowing which emotion you are processing gives you a lot information about where you are in the present moment.  How you are reacting to what’s going on. The awareness also keeps you focused in the now.

This might seem a bit ambiguous, to decide if the emotion makes you feel “good” or “bad.”  What about those pesky “neutral” feelings in the middle?

To try to get a grasp on the wiggling nature of emotions, it helps to separate them.  We can see them falling into different families, such as physical feelings, like pain or heat or mental feelings such as love or frustration. Another family might be positive or negative feelings, Another might be those inspiring to create, or making you stop in your tracks.

The easiest way to slice them is to ask, is this emotion backed by love or fear?  This simple distinction can give you a tidy frame of reference.  You can usually tell if you feel comfortable in it or not. Broadly speaking, anything that doesn’t make you feel jazzed up, full of energy, ready to go, overflowing, could be considered on the fear side.

In “Conversations with God, Book 3,” God names the five natural emotions: Love, Fear, Grief, Anger, and Envy.  He explains it like this: “The five natural emotions include love and fear, yet love and fear are the basis for all emotions.  The other three of the five natural emotions are outgrowths of these two.”   And, He adds, in the end, it’s all love anyway. . .

It’s a fine thing to master the art of quickly naming your emotions.  Naming something gives you more control over it, helps you to understand it and express it more naturally.  Once you’ve sensed that you’re getting angry, you have time to decide how you want to use it.  In this way you can use your feelings in a natural way. You can see the anger telling you this is something you do not choose.  And within that, find the love.  Grief teaches you about letting go, Envy helps you to reach for more.

So, being able to identify which emotion you’re feeling helps you to feel it, process it and use the knowledge. With that, you can make a new decision how to proceed.