I let my emotions get the best of me.
If you have ever said to yourself, “I let my emotions get the best of me” or, even worse, had to say it out loud, you know that your emotions can be very persuasive. They seem to demand our attention with urgency.
One way to define emotion is “an increased probability of taking certain actions.” Sadness increases the chance of crying. Anger increases the chance of yelling, or doing something violent, anxiety increases the chance of vigilance, or unproductive pacing.
Through our emotions, our physiological system suggests certain actions, and prepares us, physically and mentally, to perform them. This is not all, or even mostly, bad. It’s a very effective design. The same type of advising system has been copied for centuries by successful leaders. Think of the executive’s cabinet members, a monarch’s advisors to the throne, a general’s military advisors and strategists.
If I am a benevolent ruler of a small country, I want to hear advice from those close to me, who have my best interests at heart. And, I want them to present their best case to me, suggesting what action I should take in response to key events around the country. But, if that small country is my human body, I would not be wise to create a democratic form of government. As a ruler, I would be hiding from my responsibilities if I simply took the majority opinion or the loudest opinion or the first opinion. No, I must run it like a well informed, benevolent, dictatorship. I must be Plato’s “philosopher king.” It is my body and my actions, so the buck stops here. My emotions, no matter how persistent, should not have the final say. I am the rightful ruler.
But, I would make a mistake by never even listening to some emotions, or banishing them from the palace. They may only come back stronger to storm the castle. They all have some information for me and I want to make an informed decision.
By the way, they never all speak in unison. I believe that we always are feeling more than one emotion at a time. (Except for Tinker Bell as described in the original Peter Pan, who was so small that she could only hold one thought in her head at a time.) And, an emotion will almost always suggest more than one course of action if we listen carefully.
The executive’s job is to take all the counsel available at the time and then, choose the best of the advice, take the best suggested action.
In other words, my job is to get the best advice from my emotions, not let my emotions get the best of me.
David Hamilton
This is really good, very informative. Thank you! Loved your analogy of the palace/castle. The last sentence sums it up nicely. This post was VERY helpful.
Speechless…. no words from ~L…. I think I said it all on my last comment.
“In other words, my job is to get the best advice from my emotions, not let my emotions get the best of me.”
YES! That’s just it!
A 1/100th of an “I told you so” could some what be appropriate here too (face)
So…the Lord led me to this particular post at this particular time: Sunday evenings I fight anxiety about the coming work week. Now that I’ve read this, my mind has decided to take my anxiety-ridden self, straighten out my pacing, and go for a walk.