Qualities: EMOTION

So much in life depends on controlling your emotions. Failing to do so causes so many problems, so much pain. Bad emotions interfere with clear thinking and decision-making. They can destroy our relations with other people, even those we love. Good emotions, if applied correctly, can be sources of the greatest happiness, joy and positive motivation. Learn to control and understand your emotions as well as you can. It is very difficult, it requires time and practice, but it can change your life and free you to concentrate on your success.

No one can hurt your feelings without your cooperation and willingness. No one can cause you to have any kind of emotional reaction without your first giving them permission to do so. You alone are responsible for your feelings and emotions. When you know what you plan to do with your life, you will not allow annoying situations to deter you from your goals for long. If you set ambitious goals for yourself and work enthusiastically toward them, you will quickly realize that you don't have time to allow petty annoyances to upset you and keep you from your objectives.
––Napoleon Hill World Learning Center
(Go to: www.naphill.org)

The confident among us see the world as manageable and see themselves as competent and therefore likely to succeed. Immature feelings of anxiety, anger, guilt, shame, and self-pity do not haunt them. …The ability to overcome our immature emotional responses and calm them down quickly separates confident people from those who do not. …Life isn’t difficult. Our feelings make it feel that way.
––Sheenah Hankin, PhD, Complete Confidence: A Handbook. 2004

A view of human nature that ignores the power of emotions is sadly shortsighted. The very name Homo sapiens, the thinking species, is misleading in light of the new appreciation and vision of the place of emotions in our lives that science now offers. As we all know form experience, when it comes to shaping our decisions and our actions, feeling counts every bit as much—and often more—than thought. We have gone too far in emphasizing the value and import of the purely rational––of what IQ measures––in human life. Intelligence can come to nothing when the emotions hold sway.
––Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence, 1995

A very few people feel deeply, and become, what others can barely imagine.
––John Roberts, love letter, 1961

I learned to control my emotions as I learned to fly. Flying requires controlling fear and worry so they don’t take your mind off your work. Flying is something that has to be done with confidence and verve. Training and professionalism replace the emotions that inhibit performance. Flying fighters takes it to a different level. And, flying fighters in combat when the enemy is trying to kill you takes it to yet another level. Believe me, being cool and continuing to do your job in the face of gunfire is a great confidence-builder. Despite plentiful opportunity, I never felt fear in combat, not because I am a courageous hero, but because I was so well trained and had learned to control my emotions long before I needed to. Even then, I still made mistakes in the high-speed stress of trying to do everything perfectly at once. For the highly trained and motivated, the only fear in combat is of not doing your job well.

This is a big subject; I will address it further at a later time. I prefer to emphasize the positive, rather than the destructive effects.

Recommended Reading:
Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 1995.