Trapped

She found herself trapped in a whirlpool of darkness: tossed and flung around sporadically. There was no way of knowing up from down. Frantically she struggled to take a breath, fearful that her aching lungs would collapse, and found herself chocking on brine. There was no way out. Intermittent fear began to consume her. Then, she opened her eyes.

Emotions… what are they exactly? Perceptions of our surroundings interpreted by our cerebral cortex and translated into emotions. Contrary to popular belief, the heart plays no role in feelings. We allow emotions to govern our lives, regardless of whether the emotion is positive or negative. Artificial intelligence has no emotions as such, and sometimes I find myself wondering if they have it right. Why not remove the limbic system, eradicate emotion and live mechanical lives?

Well the answer to that is simple. We need emotions, it is what separates us from animals and allows us to overcome our primal instincts of hunting and copulating. Without it we would still be cavemen, hunting for meals and randomly knocking out suitable mates and dragging them to our caves. I guess the question that should be asked is how does one control one’s emotions?

Sadness, despair, grief… these are all negative emotions that we allow ourselves to feel. We have a choice: either be happy or be sad.  We make our choice based on a spur of the moment decision, not bearing in mind the repercussions of our actions. Allowing ourselves to be governed by these negative emotions not only impacts our own life but also the lives of those around us. We have the power to exude oodles of happiness and in turn make others happy, or come down upon them with a vicious aura of darkness and despair, killing any hope of happiness within them.

Why do we do this? Why do we let love spurned drives us into the deepest and darkest pits of despair? Why do we allow other people’s incorrect perceptions of ourselves cause us to grieve so severely when we know it to be untrue? We all face loss and we all face rejection, letting it over shadow any hope of happiness is pointless.

We have much and more to be grateful for. If you are reading this, chances are you have a computer or laptop, are sporting the latest cell phone and that you are well educated. Yet, with all this education and possible understanding of the human psyche, why are you letting sadness chip away at your sanity? We all have some pain or the other, but when you let that pain erode through your life and affect your daily functioning, it becomes a problem of epic proportions.

No one person should affect your emotions so severely that you find yourself in a whirlpool of despair. If they are, they don’t deserve you as much as you think they do. If they can’t come to terms with their emotions and treat you as you deserve, you would do better to cut your losses, cry for a day or two and then let happiness filter through the cracks in the armour so easily destroyed. No person should steal your happiness so suddenly and easily. Happiness is an emotion brought on by understanding and acceptance of who you are and not based on another person’s understanding of you. Remember, people change and what they understand now could easily be misunderstood later on, and that misunderstanding could shatter your being. If your happiness is based on that one person, it will shatter just as easily.

And so we find ourselves back at the start.

She opened her eyes and found herself trapped, not in a whirlpool in the midst of the ocean, but in the deepest recesses of her mind. Her overpowering need to gain his love had found her trapped in a corner, unable to find her way out. With one final burst of energy she forced her way forward, step by step and found that with each step she took she was lighter - shedding away her pain, her grief. She was regaining her life.