Don't get mad - do something positive

I've recently finished reading 'How to be human'. It's written by the very clever people at New Scientist magazine and is full of facts about how our bodies and minds work and what makes us special.

As a life-long runner I was delighted to learn that we were 'born to run'. It seems that humans are built for long distance running. We have apparently evolved this way to help us hunt and 'run down' prey to exhaustion and also forage over a wide area.

I learnt there is no such thing as a 'sugar rush' and the secret to long life is a combination of exercise, diet, managing stress and good genes. We can do something about the first 3 things but not the last unfortunately.

I also learnt a bit about emotions. I hadn't realised that there are 6 basic emotions - happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust. There are also secondary emotions like curiosity and confusion. A fascinating fact is that all these emotions illicit different facial responses which studies suggest are innate rather than being learned. So when we are curious our heads tilt to one side and the muscles in our forehead and around our eyes contract. Useful information for poker players but they probably know this already.

So what about using emotions as a force for good and for pursuing our goals?  On the face of it anger is a destructive emotion but there is evidence that it can also be beneficial and energising. To be a catalyst for positive change, anger needs to be channelled in the right way.

There is a very famous saying from Aristotle about anger, 'Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy'

www.base52.co.uk