When you think about clarity, you don’t usually think about your emotions.
What does clarity mean to you? Is it the ability to solve problems or make good decisions? Is it the ability to learn new things? Or is it a better memory?
It seems logical that if you want more clarity, you would work on your thinking. Perhaps there is another option. An emotional detox might be the answer.
Read on to find out more.
Other issues that can affect clarity
Before I discuss emotions, I want to mention some issues that can affect your clarity. Some of these are serious and you will want to talk with your doctor about them.
Certain diseases, medications, and medical treatments can affect clarity. A chronic lack of sleep can impact your clarity.
Food sensitivities can cause something called brain fog. You can discover if you have food sensitivities through a lab test or with an elimination diet. I have had personal experience with food sensitivities. I did not realize I had brain fog until I stopped eating wheat.
Emotions and clarity
Almost everyone has personal experience with a strong emotion affecting their clarity. Can you remember a time when you were really angry? Did you say or do things that you later regretted?
Or perhaps during a stressful time in your life, did you struggle with making simple decisions or have trouble remembering everyday things, like a doctor’s appointment or where you left your keys?
We know that strong emotions affect our thinking and clarity. What about times when we are not feeling a strong emotion?
According to Candace Pert (Molecules of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine, 1999), “Emotions are constantly regulating what we experience as “reality”. The decision about what sensory information travels to your brain and what gets filtered out depends on what signals the receptors [on the cells] are receiving from the peptides.”
When you feel an emotion, your brain creates neuro peptides. These peptides attach to cells throughout your body. Pert goes on to say, “… our emotions decide what is worth paying attention to.” In other words, your emotions decide what you think about.
What does this mean in practical terms?
Your emotions and beliefs affect your clarity and your behaviors. Emotions from the past can give you inaccurate information about yourself and the world.
Let’s look at two examples.
A parent abandoned you in childhood. This was a traumatic event and it still affects you as an adult. You are always worried that the people in your life might leave you. This worry keeps you from getting close to people and seeing them as they truly are.
Your family had money problems when you were young and you are having money problems as an adult. You think “Nobody in my family ever made much money and I guess I can’t either.” This belief keeps you from taking positive steps to improve your financial life. You may be blind to opportunities that are right in front of you.
Can you relate to these stories? What is holding you back?
Is an emotional detox the answer?
If emotions from the past are creating problems, then an emotional detox can bring relief and clarity. Once you release painful emotions from your past, your thinking clears automatically.
Thinking is not a stand-alone activity. Thinking happens within an emotional state. Your thinking affects your emotions and your emotions affect your thinking. This can lead to a downward spiral.
Releasing the past can lead to more clarity. More clarity can lead to better decisions, the ability to solve problems, better memory and an increased ability to learn.
If you want more clarity, the poetry of emotion process can help. Go here to read more.
Check out my free report, “5 Lies You’ve Been Told About Health and Happiness”.
(Image: Guy Mayer)
