Spirituality and Emotional Intelligence

13

Red (Hard) Emotions

Let us begin by paying some respect to red emotion. Red is easy to demonize as “bad.” If you formed that habit early in life, as Lucy the psychiatrist (in the Peanuts cartoons by Schultz) said, “get over it!” (that will be five cents.) It is only holding you back as an adult.

Without red you have no backbone. Too much red is tiresome, but too little red is also tiresome. Leaders who do not take clear stands cause confusion and bickering amongst their followers. People who do not take clear stands fuel conflict; the very thing they are likely trying to avoid. Without red you won’t make decisions. Without red you won’t be firm. If you have low access to red, reclaim your capacity to be serious and to be heard. You were ...