No Emotion Is The Best Emotion

Nov. 8, 2019

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Hands down, my favorite form of entertainment is watching a Roger Federer match.

When it’s over, my day actually gets better.

If he wins.

If he doesn’t, then watching a Federer match is one of my least favorite things to do.

In fact, the spectrum of emotion is so wide that I’ve stopped watching him live altogether.

I don’t want to take the risk.

And I’ve noticed something.

I feel more tension when I know he’s playing. My day isn’t as fun.

Until I know the result, I’m a bit unsettled.

Something I like, something I feel emotions toward, actually makes my day worse.

That’s weird.

On the other hand, if I’m walking in our local park with a tennis center, I always stop to watch the tennis.

Doesn’t matter who’s playing. Doesn’t matter what level.

It’s pleasing to sit and watch strangers play.

The thing I care about makes me tense and possibly unhappy.

The think I’m neutral about is relaxing and always peaceful.

We’re under the illusion that caring means emotion.

If I throw more tantrums then I care more. And caring is what it’s all about, right?

But what if the emotion is taken out?

What if I didn’t care about Nadal or Djokovic breaking Roger’s major record even though they’re clearly inferior and mean and don’t deserve to win and aren’t as graceful and aren’t dressed as nicely?

If I threw all that out, would I be tense? Would I be unhappy with the wrong result?

Or would it be great to watch the match no matter what? Would there be some positives no matter what?

It would be the peacefulness of watching a stranger except I’d get to watch the greatest athlete of all time.

Emotion ruins everything.

Having no emotion doesn’t mean we’re unfeeling robots who never experience joy.

It means we always have a chance to be happily serene.

We always have a chance for the best of both worlds.

Just take some emotion out of it.

Or have Roger never lose another match.

My book is called The Inevitability of Becoming Rich, and you can find that here.