Is happiness a goal of life? Are we to feel happy all the days of our lives?

On the other hand, if we occasionally feel sadness, or guilt, or we experience moodiness, tension, or anxiety, or any number of emotions which are deemed "negative" do we throw up our hands and seek medical help?

Feeling or sensing different emotions is part of our God-given makeup. Just as we feel a physical sensation if we touch something hot, feeling an emotional reaction to something happening in our lives is quite normal - and healthy. An emotion alerts us to a change and can help us work through a process of change.  Having a faith, or support from people is often very helpful too. Let’s take a look at a few examples:

Grief: Nearing death can bring intensely felt emotions. They can feel awful, but actually be healthy and helpful. Most of us have heard of Elizabeth Kubler Ross and her discussion on death and dying. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance were some of the emotions expressed by people nearing death, and their loved ones. There is no correct length of time for the grief process and no right or wrong way to grieve.

Guilt:  Sometimes called "a wasted emotion", guilt can be a first step in a process to healthy change. For instance, the label "Food Police" followed me as a healthy lifestyle co-ordinator. Then a mentor noted: "If someone is hiding the contents of their shopping trolley from another, then this can indicate a conscience being awakened."

Emotional Crying: Tears are interesting. Biochemist, William Frey devoted 15 years of research to tears. Did you know that tears shed while cutting an onion, are completely different to emotional tears? Tears shed during an emotional experience contain hormones and even toxins from the body. Could emotional tears be the body’s way of excreting extra hormones and/or toxins? Thus tears are a healthy part of dealing with emotion.

Moodiness and aggression: A lack of nutrients causes all kinds of mood changes. Depression, anxiety, aggression, mood swings can all be caused by eating a diet of low nutrient, poor quality food.　

How do we define low nutrient, poor quality food in the 21st century? Food grown with chemical pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilisers and then processed into products which resemble food, but lack nutrition? Science is firm on this point: chemical laden, processed food leads to disease. Yes, even a diet of plant foods grown in depleted soils and sprayed with chemicals can lead to poor health, (see Book 2 Chapter 7).  If you eat conventionally grown produce, you may not realise you are eating genetically modified foods (GMO’s) and no-one knows how these organisms may unbalance the human mind and body. Have you heard of the whale tomato?

The safest way to eat for a balanced mind and body is to eat simply, buy only organic food from growers or suppliers you trust, or food you grow. In our experience organic food is more filling. You eat less, cravings diminish, mood evens out, disease may be prevented.

Preparing for Christ’s Second Coming: At this time in the world, when change is dramatic, prophecy is fulfilling, and we are living in the end times, each us preparing for the second coming of Christ has a grave responsibility. Each of us is required to examine all areas of life and lifestyle with an open heart and mind to discover anything which is interfering with our relationship with Christ. This can bring a stirring range of emotions too. For eample, in our family we have decided to experiment with eliminating all grains. We have found this to have brought many health benefits - and accompanying grief!

"Better to go to the house of mourning

Than to go to the house of feasting,

For that is the end of all men;

And the living will take it to heart.

Sorrow is better than laughter,

For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,

But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." Ecclesiastes 7:2-4

References:

Armytage, Dean. "Food, End-Time Currency # 3 of 4." DVD presented at the Camp Meeting 2012, NSW, Australia, 2012.
"On Death and Dying - Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross And The Five Stages of Grief." Elisabeth Kubler Ross Foundation. Accessed August 15, 2015. http://www.ekrfoundation.org/five-stages-of-grief/.
Orloff MD, Judith. "The Health Benefits of Tears." Judith Orloff MD. Accessed August 8, 2015. http://www.drjudithorloff.com/Free-Articles/The-Health-Benefits-of-Tears_copy.htm.