This book deals with emotions and convictions, what they tell us, what their purpose is, how we have learned to warp them and what the consequences of this are.
We describe how not having intelligence with regard to our emotional life, leads to inner conflicts that create tension, wich must be resolved. How an entire system of protection is constructed on the basis of this. And how this removes us further and further from our true identity, our essential feeling and our authentic desires, because we have become hopelessly entangled in the conflict between thinking, doing and feeling. And how, eventually, this results in the denial of our needs, thus leading to the essential damage of our vitality, interpretation and zest for life, in other words, our ‘True Force’.
If we have little or no realisation of that which goes on inside us, we can become overrun by our feelings. It absorbs us and we cannot escape it. This make us fickle, disorientated, unpredictable and insecure. If we have emotional intelligence, we are able to regulate our emotions. Then we are conscious of our moods at that moment and we are able to recognise our needs, accept and communicate them, to draw our boundaries and deal with our inner conflicts. This makes us self-conscious and autonomous.
Every feeling conveys a message and has value and meaning. It is all about discovering this meaning and giving it a place. This allows us to achieve balance. Feelings should be in equal proportions to the circumstances. Only by providing this with focused attention and developing consciousness, can we make emotions work for us instead of against us.
With this booklet we want to offer you a helping hand for your further growth and development and in working on your ‘True Force’.

Joop Smulders & Marleen Jonker