True Emotions

Even though it is still only the first week of this seminar, I can truthfully say that I am becoming more aware of my emotions.  Before this seminar I always tried to steer away from negative emotions.  I felt that I was wasting my time whenever I was angry or upset.  I had a teacher recently tell a lecture that he too has this same outlook in life.  When I heard that I felt almost justified.  This feeling lasted for a while until I heard someone else question this train of thought.  She asked that if all we feel is positive emotions, where is the truth in that?  This got me to questioning.  If I don't allow myself to experience negative emotions, my positive feelings hold less meaning.
I have realized that only allowing myself to focus on positive emotions is unrealistic.  I know that it is also unhealthy to focus on negative things (which obviously I wouldn't want to do anyways) but I need a better balance in my life.  I need to work on letting myself experience whatever emotions come to me.  In order to do this, I hope that this seminar teaches me ways to experience these emotions but in balanced and controlled ways.  I guess you can say that this thinking process has triggered an emotion of hopefulness in me.  This is definitely a pleasant feeling on the bipolar scale.  I think that in the next seven or however many weeks, I will be more in control of my emotional reactions and will be leading a more balanced life.