"Reality Bends to the Will."

As there exists a language barrier between those who are raised speaking different languages there to is a language barrier between that of different types of emotional people. While we may not realize it initially, each of us are driven by our emotions to a different extent than the other. These varying degrees of emotionality inevitably influence the social dynamics that we encounter on a daily basis, but rarely do we realize and understand why due to the emotional language barrier.

Different people are more emotionally driven than others, the balances between passion and logic. That does  not mean that passionately emotional people are bereft of logic or that logical stoics are unable to feel joy. Either side as a different way of experiencing these sensations, a way of translating them and making them their own. This is probably the biggest language barrier of emotions, as we are each biased to seeing things through the lens of our own experiences, to where we do not realize that because someone else interprets emotions differently does not mean that they are completely bereft of meaning.

The term “lost in translation” normally applies to language barriers where different languages do not possess the same words or does not carry the same weight of meaning. This is also true as it applies to emotions between those who in the same sense, speak a different emotional language. What do we do then when we hit the emotional language barrier?

Some relationships are defined by an emotional difference that brings complementary balance. Others, a shared emotional language that helps amplify a common emotional state. The shared emotional state in such a relationship, whether it be among friends, a couple, coworkers, etc. is an aspect that most do not pay heed to and how it can effect their physical environment. Because most do not pay attention to this emotional state, they eventually either find themselves in an uncomfortable situation or find themselves stuck with a highly negative atmosphere.

These situations can be influenced with time and patience. The only issue is that we find ourselves in these situations after the fact when we are next to being completely drained from them. Each situation is what you influence and make it to be, but in the aspect of emotional translation that is often left ignored… what becomes of it then?

Morals are a part of the bedrock of our modern society. With them comes cooperation, respect, peace, and homeostasis. Through morals, a haven of prosperity and growth are created insomuch that we foster and nurture its potential. After generations however, these same morals can become old and outdated, failing to keep up with the ever changing dynamism that we call life.

The morals we live by are tied to a communal belief system and that belief system being religion. Do not lust, do not envy, do not glutton… the list goes on. Every faith today possesses similarly shared values. These values backing our moral foundation have remained unchanged for centuries and no one has dared challenge them for just as long.

Morals are necessary to ensure growth and prosperity. Some of these morals, as based on religion, only remain as tradition being passed on through the generations. The question of “what is right?” is limited only by the scope of this inherited morality that is defined by the group instead of that of ourselves. To question morality does not automatically mean anarchy… To question morality means to grow and evolve as a human being.

To be completely without morals and to define them by ourselves would ensue anarchy. To unquestioningly accept morals as defined by the group would mean blind indoctrination. The problem is that there is no middle ground. We either accept or be cast out of the garden…

The issue is that our moral system is stagnant and obsolete. The issues that present society face are a hundred times more complex and intricate than what our ancestors faced generations ago. Instead of blindfully accepting these morals as they have been passed down for generations, it is time to starting exploring where these rules can be bent…

Every day we are subject to the challenges or favors that our environment poses us with. We rate our daily experiences based on how well they treated us or how badly they have wronged us. We allow ourselves to be subject to the whims of what happens around us, a matter that we cannot control…

Some time ago, I stumbled across stoic philosophy. When most hear the term “stoic” they usually associate it to an emotionless person which is a misrepresentation of its true intentions. Chiefly, to be truly “stoic”, one must be able to endure pain or hardship without the display of feeling and without complaint. Ultimately the point of stoicism is to develop your own self-control to where you are free from negative emotions that will ultimately impact our overall happiness.

We are all subject to the events that effect us and there is little that we can do to actually control them. What we can control however, is our reactions to these events which is what actually impacts our overall well-being. In the end its we who chose how to shape our reactions to that of the world around us.

“… sick and yet happy, in peril and yet happy, dying and yet happy, in exile and happy, in disgrace and happy…” -Epictetus