160 Don’t Let A nxiety Run Your Life
negative emotions to accept your anxious emotions (or any
emotions!) is an important goal.
Practice Over the next month, practice being emotionally
authentic at least once a week. Your goal is to be true or virtuous in
your emotional response to your life’s circumstances. This might
mean not trying to stif le your response, or it might mean answer-
ing a question honestly— for example, when someone asks, “How
are you doing?” you respond with an honest answer rather than
an automatic “fine,” “okay,” or “well.” Remember, being authentic
in your emotions is a collection of choices, and it’s based on a con-
tinuum; it’s not that you either are or are not authentic but that you
strive for authenticity.
Note: Be cautious about how, where, and with whom you do
this. Be smart about when to practice authenticity and when not
to. It may be wise, at first, to choose to be authentic only when by
yourself. If something makes you happy and you feel like laughing ,
then laugh. Or dance, or sing , or cry, or choose simply to be you.
The Positive Side of Negative Emotions
Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher, spent a large
part of his life examining what makes people happy. He
believed that above all else, people desire happiness and that
all other desires are a means of achieving happiness. He
further believed that wisdom gained through life experience
would inform people about which pleasures are truly plea-
surable and, importantly, which pains are necessary to
produce pleasure— in other words, why feeling good is good
and why feeling bad is also good.
According to his philosophy, activities in life are gener-
ally pursued according to their value, including whether