Override Your Emotions

Emotions are wonderful servants. They help us learn how to be compassionate toward others. They teach us how to be angry about injustice, and how to be happy in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. However, emotions are TERRIBLE masters. If you let emotions lead your life, then they could easily fill your head full of lies and make you do plenty of irrational things.

Distinguishing FEELINGS from TRUTH is all about discipline. You could feel fat all you'd like, but what you see in the mirror would tell the truth. You could feel that you're not doing enough, but if you keep a log of your activities, that would tell the truth. You could feel that you're not being a good parent, but your child's behavior and overall well-being would tell the truth.

If we have no feelings, we would simply be robots. If we were all feelings and no logic, we would simply be fools. We humans are the greatest creations in the world because while we have emotions, we also have the ability to override our emotions with logic. We could initially be frightened of a situation, but after using our abilities to be logical, we could override our fears.

Think about this. If you see a big water bug running across your kitchen and you run out the house screaming and hollering, were your actions logical or emotional? They were emotional, because there is absolutely NO logical reason for you to be scared of something that you could easily step on. What can that water bug do to you? It's more scared of you than you are of it -- which is why it's running away from you.

Now, before you run out the house as if it were on fire, you should ask yourself, "What can this bug do to me??" After pondering on that question, you should be empowered to walk in that kitchen and go after that bug.

While growing up, I would run away if any flying insect was chasing after me. After growing up and realizing that I had much more power than a mere insect, the tables turned. Now, I would be more than willing to run after a wasp if I feel threatened. But since gardening, I let the wasps make their home among my family because they eat the destructive insects. And since I know more about wasps than I ever did before, I have enough guts to get up and personal with a wasp to take photos. This is what happens when you override your emotions with TRUTH.

People who lose their tempers and pull off irrational actions are acting solely on emotions. Children are prime examples of people who act solely on emotions. They act out in anger, say hurtful things "because she said it first," want to hit someone because "he said something mean," etc., etc. They act out in their emotions because they haven't learned to override their emotions with logic. Instead of saying something hurtful out of an emotional response, they should ask themselves how much damage their words would do to a person.

So many of us adults haven't learned how to override our emotions. We let our feelings dictate our actions. If we "don't feel like it," well, we just won't do it. And if we did something simply because "we felt like it," then we would get into trouble. Marital affairs happen because someone couldn't control their emotions. People get thrown in jail because they acted out on their emotions. We lose our jobs, get into fist fights, and get banned from stores because we couldn't keep our emotions under control.

Remember: our emotions are wonderful servants, but TERRIBLE masters.

I think about a scripture that says, "Fools die for lack of sense" (Proverbs 10:21). "Sense" denotes logic, reason, being rational. Fools don't have these things, but instead, they run purely on emotions. I think about pranksters, how they love to pull jokes on unsuspecting people just to get some laughs. I think about one particular prankster who was dressed as a clown and painted a guy's car. The car's owner saw it and started beating up on the clown. Even after the clown told the man that it was a prank, that the paint was washable, and that he was on camera, the guy continued beating up on the clown.

Now, tell me, did that prankster use any sense? Of course not. He just thought about the laughs. He acted purely on emotions without considering that his actions could get him killed.

I think about people who are quick to run off at the mouth at a complete stranger. Does that person not consider that she could get hurt or killed? I think about people who decide to get mouthy with the police. Do they not consider that their actions could lead them in jail? I think about a guy who is a black belt in his field of martial arts going to a store late at night, thinking that his fighting skills would keep him safe. Did he not consider that he might be fighting against 5 people? Did he not consider that even if he wins the fight, he might walk away permanently injured? Again, when we have no senses and act solely out of emotions, we become fools -- and all fools would eventually get hurt one way or another.

Don't be that fool! Don't allow your emotions to ruin your entire life. We are not animals -- we don't operate entirely on instinct. We could control our actions with our senses, and prevent ourselves from acting out in emotions.

Moving forward in life depends on how well you could control your emotions. Being a better person, improving your situation and overall quality of life is about mastering your emotions. If you allow your emotions to control you, don't expect any good to come into your life. But if you DISCIPLINE yourself to rule your emotions and to make decisions based on the truth, then expect wonderful changes to happen in your life.