My closest friends call me a personal development whore. I have to agree with them.

3 years ago, my boyfriend and I broke up after 4 years of seamless relationship bliss. Even though, it was for the best, at the time, I was devastated. On many occasions, I wanted to go back on anti-depressants, or sleep all day, or even better, drink all day, but instead of becoming a broken version of myself, I made the choice to become a better version of myself.

As a result, I started the trek down the personal development path. After learning from various people over many months, I realized I was hearing the same concepts explained in different words over and over again.

So, I’ll save you the time and energy and I’ll just tell you this:

 

There are about 10 simple principles to live by in order to achieve personal fulfillment and inner peace in your life.

 

In this blog, I’ll focus on just one of them.

 

Fear versus Love Based Emotions

 

This is the idea that ALL of the emotions we experience stem from just one of two places:

Fear versus love. That’s it. Just two.

I know. It’s hard to consider this simplified explanation of what often feels like very complicated emotions. What about anger, frustration, happiness, or sadness? There are hundreds of words to describe the emotions that make up the human experience, but in essence, they all originate from fear or love.

This is an important concept because it gives you the power to master your emotions instead of playing victim to them. You can ultimately boil down any personal experience, determine whether it’s coming from a place of fear or love, and then instantly decide whether to hold onto it, or let it go.

This is an important concept because it gives you the power to master your emotions instead of playing victim to them. You can ultimately boil down any personal experience, determine whether it’s coming from a place of fear or love, and then instantly decide whether to hold onto it, or let it go.

When you’re angry about something…

 

Try shifting perspective away from the subject that is bothering you, and focus on what you’re actually fearful of. We know that a fear-based emotion can present itself as anger, depression, resentment, frustration, or even sadness. If you can ask yourself, “What am I really in fear of here? Is it necessary to actually be fearful of this?” then you have a better chance of snapping out of it with more clarity and without wasting time and energy.

Love is more powerful than fear.

 

Love, also seen as happy, joyful, exuberant, and confident, is more powerful than fear, and it’s certainly much easier to live with and embrace. If we aimed to act out of love all of the time, we would avoid battles with our loved ones, our ego, our stubborn brains, and our clouded personal perspectives on life and how it should be lived.

You’ve got 2 options. Choose Wisely.

 

 

This blog was also featured on Eat Drink and Be Skinny.  Check them out for some great personal development content!