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Feeling good this morning? Feeling like you're
on top of the world? Or are you down in the dumps,
feeling overwhelmed with life? The strange thing
is that you might sometimes feel one way, sometimes
the other without anything having changed very much
around you. Most likely your emotions alter only
subtly, in a way that you hardly even notice until
something just triggers a feeling of joy or anger
and you laugh, or explode. The senses will have
become attuned to whatever it is that causes that
trigger. For example, if you are feeling happy,
you are more likely to notice a bird singing. If
you feel down, you'll notice a comment that seems
to be a criticism of you. In each case you'll act
accordingly, smiling at the bird song or snapping
at the remark.
Emotional fitness is the least regarded aspect
of our health, yet contributes the most to our well-being.
Until recently there has been no simple way to assess
your emotional fitness. The first person to work
on this was Professor Eugene Heimler who, in the
1970s developed an approach called Human Social
Functioning. Heimler taught in Europe, where he
established the Heimler Institute, and in Calgary,
where he held the Chair of Human Social Functioning
at the U of C for fifteen years.
It is all, taught Heimler, a matter of balance
between our satisfactions and frustrations. He used
a complicated scale to measure people's emotional
balance. Here's my quick and simple version, called
the LIFESCALE.
Five questions to check your satisfaction levels
Give a value of between 0 and 20 for each of the
questions. If, for example, you feel a great deal
of pleasure from life, give, say, 18. If you don't
feel much pleasure at this point in your life, give
6 or so; whatever feels about right for you. Remember,
lowest will be zero, highest will be twenty for
each question. If you are unsure what the question
means, give your own meaning to it. The figure that
you write down is a
representation of how you feel at this point in
your life. The meanings of the figures will be something
for you explore later.
How much PLEASURE do I get from life? *
How much PURPOSE do I have in my life? *
How much do I feel I'm in the right PLACE? *
How much POWER do I feel I have? *
How much PEACE of mind do I feel? *
________
TOTAL SATISFACTIONS *
Once you have added up the score values, you have
the level of satisfaction that you have in your
life right now. Before going on to see what it means,
here is the other side of your emotional fitness,
so that you can get a complete picture.
Five questions to check your frustration levels
Again, give a value of between 0 and 20 for each
question. For example, if you feel very poor right
now, give a high score. If you don't feel poor at
all, give a score nearer to the zero mark. Once
again, give your own meaning to the question. Being
poor may be to do with money, or other material
things. Equally it may have to do with relationships
or creative expression.
How much PAIN do I feel I have? *
How much do PROBLEMS weigh me down? *
How much PREJUDICE do I feel against me? *
How POOR do I feel I am? *
How much PRESSURE do I feel is on me? *
________
TOTAL FRUSTRATIONS *
Assessing your results
The difference between your two total scores is
the balance you have between your satisfaction and
frustration levels. To be emotionally fit, your
total values would be between 60-80 for satisfaction
and 20-40 for frustration. So if you have around
70 for satisfactions and 30 for frustrations, you
are in a pretty good state of emotional health.
If you have more frustration than satisfaction,
you are not as healthy as you could be and probably
need some support. You'll note that it doesn't mean
you are emotionally healthy if you have no frustration
at all. We all need some to keep us motivated, yet
not so much that we feel overwhelmed. In fact, our
frustration is the source of our potential creative
energy, our drive to live life to the full, which
we can do when there is also enough satisfaction.
Changing patterns that don't work for you
The real impact of the Lifescale is in the meanings
you give to each of your own scores. If you have
a score that seems too little or too much for your
own emotional comfort, that is where you can begin
to change things. Look at the lowest value you have
given in your satisfaction list and the highest
you have scored for your frustration list. For example,
if you have a score of 5 or less for PLACE then
you may want to concentrate on this aspect and think
how you might improve this for yourself. If you
have scored 15 or so for PRESSURE, you might have
a look at how you respond to demands on you and
how you can change that feeling of pressure. Seeking
help by talking to someone else, either an understanding
friend or a counselor, can be of tremendous value.
Once you begin to express your feelings and can
focus on what causes them, you are well on the way
to improving your emotional fitness.
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