Human beings are complicated creatures. We are always in a state of motion be it mentally or physically. Physical tiredness can be overcome by just a good night of sleep but I often wonder if the same can be said about our overwhelming and more often than not taxing emotions and thoughts?
We often may not realise this but our mind is constantly in a state of turmoil. According to me, one’s emotions can prove to be even stronger than a sword made of the toughest iron. Our thoughts tend to leave us in a state of deep unrest, sometimes it may even feel as if they are constantly gnawing at our souls. But the fact that in life one does often experience joyful and happy emotions also along with sorrow cannot be discounted. I like to imagine both happiness and sorrow to be like the two sides of a coin, however when the coin is flipped, instead of happiness and sorrow having an equal probability of occurring, I have found that more than happiness sorrow emerges to be victorious.
We have not been blessed with the ability to totally prevent these negative thoughts and emotions from entering our minds but we have complete control over how we want them to impact our lives and most importantly our decisions.
An action based on a decision once made cannot be reversed be it for the better or worse. A wrong choice can deeply interfere and act as a hindrance in our lives ahead. Before a decision is made the pros and cons, the negative and positive aspects must be considered. But have you ever wondered what interferes with our thought process while making these key choices?
It is proven that our emotions deeply influence our decisions and subsequently our actions. However this should not be the case always. It is extremely important for our mental health that we do not let our emotions influence our choice, it can after all prove to be detrimental. A rational and intelligent person will always think from the brain and not the heart. Many people would suggest – Listen to your gut, or your heart, or some other part of your body that couldn’t possibly know what those options will be worth in the next five years. It has been scientifically proven that people assess the situation more accurately when they think systematically, than when they just rely on intuition or are governed only by their feelings.
It is also seen that those who do not assess and rationally think about their future decisions but rely on their emotions to act as their lone and sole driving force are more likely to make mistakes and bad choices. We must not be short sighted but rather should think about our future goals and dreams and where we want to be placed at the end of this journey called life.
However having said that, in our lives, our emotions are also very important. Expression of emotions plays a key role in building our relationships. Living in a world full of people we cannot be devoid of all emotions that is because man is a social being. By blocking all our feelings and thoughts we would be classified as robots, only not just as powerful. Emotions do help in shaping our personalities and in the end they do determine what kind of people we are but we should not choose our future paths based only on emotions. In other words it is important to be emotionally intelligent but not emotionally dead.
Emotional intelligence can be said to be the difference that makes all the difference in one’s life. It is the key to improving our personal effectiveness and inner self. It’s the foundation and base for dealing with impulses and stress and responding versus reacting. As truly said by Benjamin Franklin – ‘Whatever is begun in anger, ends in shame.’
The ability to identify, assess and control the emotions of oneself is very important. It leads to better self awareness, self management, social awareness and better social skills. Emotional competence is a quality each individual should develop. In the end I would simply like to conclude that even though sometimes it may not be in our hands but we all have the inner power to block these thoughts from making our choices for us. It is upon us if we choose to unleash this power or not but the person who is able to do so is surely successful.
