Emotions Suck Sometimes

I am thankful I have been able to experience different types of counseling and have received some benefits from each. I don’t recall from any session a counselor or psychiatrist who told me to “just be happy.” They know that’s not how the brain and emotions work. Which is fucking frustrating, because why not?

The happy thought I just posted, “Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life. ” makes me think of how fickle emotions are. I don’t take that quote to mean “just be happy” or anything like that. I get that’s not how things work. But now I’m stuck here wondering why.

When my eyes adjust from light to darkness, the initial chemical reactions that dilate the pupil happen in a matter of seconds . I’m not even conscious of this. My brain’s a bunch of cells and neurons and chemicals, what evolutionary buffoonery made the chemicals up in my noggin that deal with emotion work so quick to trigger one and so slow to change sometimes? Where’s the light switch for “just be happy?”

Psychologists research this stuff and they’ve come up with Emotional brain training (EBT) which is neat. It’s also certainly something I can practice. More work. Yay. [/s]