Feelings vs Emotions

Human beings are naturally emotive creatures. We often talk about how we are feeling. Over the course of our lifetimes we will experience millions of different sensations. Even over the course of a day we will not be untouched by feelings and emotions. Often, these two terms are used interchangeably, but there are differences between feelings and emotions that, if known, can help us to understand what’s going on inside a little better.

Definition of Feeling and Emotion
Feeling – has upwards of twenty different meanings, depending on which dictionary you consult. For our purposes, feeling can either refer to something experience as a result of outside stimuli reacting with one of your five senses or someone’s sensibilities, attitude, or emotional perception.
Emotion – is technically a state of consciousness in which various internal sensations are experienced. Emotion can be produced by a thought, memory, or external motivator and can often change our physical state.
Because of this, you could say that the biggest difference between feelings and emotions is that feelings have to be triggered by an external motivating factor whereas emotions can be completely internalized.

Examples of Feelings and Emotions
Feeling –
can come from the outside world reacting with any of our five senses: warmth, cold, hot, dry, dusty, drenched
can come from a physical sensation – hungry, thirsty, hurt, ticklish, itchy, tingly
can come from the result of an emotion – sad, happy, excited, nervous, disgusted, scared, overjoyed
Emotion – can be categorized by degree. For example, disgust can be classed as a lesser degree of hatred. However, several emotional theories state that there are five emotions that are similar to all cultures: love, hate, joy, sorrow, and fear.

Experiencing Feelings and Emotions
Feelings – are thought to be experienced for short periods of time. If you touch a stove it feels hot and you quickly remove your hand. Within minutes you are no longer feeling hot. If someone jumps out at you from around a corner you will feel startled, but that will soon pass. Feelings of excitement will subside after the awaited event is done.
Emotions – are often said to be long-term states. If you are in love, that emotion will usually last years. Sorrow too, takes a long time to go away. Because emotions are internal you have to change your mind set to change your emotion and this process takes time.

Summary:
1.Emotions and feelings are both sensations experienced by humans.
2.Feelings are triggered by external stimuli whereas emotions come from your mind, and possibly, soul.
3.Feelings can include physical sensations as well as mental states, but emotions always come from your mind.
4.Feelings are often temporary and subside once the stimulus is no longer present, whereas emotions will stay with you for years because they are seated in your mind.