Folks often use their feelings to justify their behavior. Within reason, all well and good. However, reason is frequently not on the checklist before proceeding; in an age of entitlement, wanting and desiring alone become trump cards. Folks, many emotions are temporary, fleeting, illogical, not thought out and don’t represent our best interests. In other words, a life based upon actions driven exclusively by emotions is usually full of self-sabotage. Things with permanent consequences should never be undertaken in the heat of the moment; ‘sleep on it’ is some of the best advice ever given.
Yes, for sure, listen to your emotions; hear them out, and at the same time trace them back to their origins. Are they foundational sentiments reaching to the core of your being? Or impulses that will pass? I often imagine a Board of Directors meeting in my head with different parts of me holding forth. Emotions and feelings definitely have their say but rarely the final word. I am advocate of the Art of the Long View and I am fully committed to being a good person, a good citizen, to being my best self more often.
Closing Quotes:
“Feelings are something you have; not something you are.” – Shannon L. Alder
“I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.” – Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900
“Emotion can be the enemy, if you give into your emotion, you lose yourself. You must be at one with your emotions, because the body always follows the mind.” – Bruce Lee, 1940-1972
As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier