Are moods really positive or negative? It’s easy to conclude that they are, and so discount a wide range of them as irrelevant or destructive.

I think that’s a mistake, because every mood brings something of value to the fore that we might otherwise miss:

Gratitude – connects us to the wonder and unlikeliness of our lives

Anger – reminds us of values that are important to us that have been transgressed

Love – brings forward what we treasure most strongly about people and situations

Fear – connects us with what we most depend upon, and want to protect, as well as keeping us alive to dangers that could threaten each of them

Happiness – shows us what satisfies and delights us

Disappointment – keeps central what we most care about and want to bring about

and even

Resentment – gives us a sense of dignity in the face of an apparent wrong committed by another

Resignation – shows us that we’ve concluded, with reason or not, that there is nothing we can do

Feeling a mood does not mean a particular course of action is required.

When we remember this, we can open to the illuminating possibility that our moods are not to be avoided, but to be experienced. And that they arise in order to teach us, in a revealing way, about what really matters most to us in our lives.

Photo Credit: Neal. via Compfight cc