The Power of Negative Emotion by Todd Kashdan and Robert Biswas-Diener

This book appears, on the face of it, to be against mindfulness and living in the moment, but actually, when you start to read, you'll realise that the authors are very much in favour of the benefits of mindfulness. However, they warn against the avoidance of negative emotions completely because negative emotions can be really useful.

One such example that really resonates with me, is that expressing anger can get you the results you want, when being nice, and trying to negotiate, has repeatedly failed. That is so true. A number of examples are given to illustrate this point.

The authors also say that happy people tend to see the forest but not the trees. They often don't see the detail in situations, and miss what is going on right in front of their eyes. For this reason, they have poor memories and may have false memories. So it seems that happy people see situations through rose-tinted glasses that may not reflect reality. Happy people also miss details at work, and are perhaps not the best employees, while people who experience anxiety are more concerned about getting the details right and tend to do a better job.

This book is fascinating in its insight to emotions and motivation. A manager who expresses sadness for example, is more motivational to his staff, than a happy manager, who thinks all is well. The staff work harder to make things better for the sad manager.

Self doubt, another negative emotion, can have a positive outcome because it makes people strive to constantly improve themselves. Meanwhile, the emotion of guilt can make you a more moral, pleasant person, because you feel guilty if you bring misfortune on other people.

The book covers mindfulness versus mindlessness, showing how useful autopilot can be. It also shows how health-promoting mindfulness can be. The message is that there's a healthy balance to be struck between mindfulness versus mindlessness... And between positive and negative emotion.

The book is filled with science; everything is backed up by studies. It provides a really authoritative look at the power of emotion on human interaction. The authors do not say it's good to be sad, but neither do they focus on the blind pursuit of happiness. It's all about balance. An interesting read.