To find out, I suggest you understand their respective roles and how they interact together. Because if our emotions and feelings cannot exist entirely without each other, they are perfectly distinct. 

Emotion is an unconscious and automatic response to a stimulus. It allows us to act according to the circumstances that triggered it. For example, if we are threatened, we leave the room or defend ourselves.

Once the emotion has passed, our thoughts come into play. We will interpret the situation subjectively and generate feelings depending on our history, past experiences, and personality. For example, we will think: What did I do wrong to deserve this? I am angry and need to be more suspicious of others, etc.

These feelings will, in turn, generate emotions, and so on, if we do not stop our little internal voice (our thoughts).

You see how everything is fine when positive emotion leads to good thoughts. On the contrary, if emotion is negative, it generates feelings that make us even more unhappy.

Our emotions and feelings have the immense power to lead us into a virtuous or vicious circle, depending on their nature, and we can decide what we do with them.

How, may you ask? By understanding the message, they give us.

Our emotions and feelings are not only meant to make us react and then lead us in one emotional direction or another. They are supposed to inform us of whether our needs are being met or not; they are, therefore, satisfied when we are doing well but not when we are doing poorly.

Consider the following example. Your partner constantly cuts you off, and you can’t take it anymore. Your body becomes agitated, and your anger rises. Then, you also stop them in the middle of the conversation. Your thoughts have taken over and are racing through your head. You tell your partner how you feel and how disrespectful you think they are.

Let’s go back to when your first emotion, before your thoughts, triggered a whirlwind of negative feelings. What is going on for you? Isn’t an essential need being violated to the point that it is stirring up uncontrollable emotions in you? Don’t you need attention? Perhaps some consideration?

You can see that the crucial information to retain here is that there are needs behind the emotions and the feelings experienced, and that is what they tell you.

Learning to understand best what you need with your emotions and feelings as the indicators allows you to know yourself better and live more peacefully. Decode their message so you can connect to your needs, which is the first step in self-discovery and personal development.

Here is an article you could read to better understanding your emotions & feelings and calm your mind: How to calm down and get out of your mind?

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