It's 1:51 and I"m on my way home from school. There is a slight chilling breeze rustling through the leaves. The trees are changing color already, and fall is truly upon us. I have the rest of this beautiful day ahead of me. This is truly a marvelous day. My windows are down, the wind is blowing in my face, as I rush home to see my family. I don't realize how stupid I look at a red light as I"m singing and swaying to the music in my car, but I don't care, I"m happy. I finally arrive home, I pull into the driveway, rush inside and as I set my things down I"m thinking of all the opportunities this upcoming night holds. However then as I make my way downstairs I hear a awful sound. "Why didn't you change the cat litter before you left like I asked! This is the 3rd time! Can"t you just do it already!" questions Zac. This makes me so fumed, why should I deserve a response like that when I walk in the door from a long day? I was in a good mood and everything! I respond back with some lame excuse in a horribly rude tone. "I don't need this interrogation" I proclaim. This in turn, causes a vicious circle of rude comments, all before I even get a "Hi". This has all together ruined my so-called marvelous day, or at least my marvelous mood. In this situation I have let Zac's mood rub off on mine. I was "expecting" him to be friendly and happy to see my when I arrived, and his actions obviously proved otherwise. .
Our emotions are so easily influenced by others around us, but the only thing we can really control is our reactions and our attitudes. Emotions are infectious, in this I mean, they can effortlessly be passed from one person to another and usually subconsciously at that. The process in which emotions are transferred is called emotional contagion. As Daniel Goleman observes (1997, pg 115) "We catch feelings from one another as though they were some kind of social virus" Everyone can almost certainly recall situations where a calmer person made them more at ease, or a rude grouch stressed them out.
