Not Emotion Led or Emotionless

Healthy living is not emotion-led or emotionless! Please, do not be Mr. Spock on Star Trek or someone who constantly “follows their heart.” 

If you would rather live truth instead of speculation or opinion, then be clear about the interaction of three elements: feelings, thoughts, and actions.

Scary Movies

Do you have a favorite scary movie? Maybe the classic film Psycho? Mine is the original Alien, and even though it is my favorite, I do not like to watch it because its special effects and creatures scare me!

Why are you afraid when watching a scary movie? When something frightening happens on the screen, why do you jump? Is it because you are in danger? Of course not – it is just a movie!

Suppose you are watching a scary movie, but tell yourself, “I am watching a story filmed for entertainment, especially to create fear and excitement. Scenes will be created specifically to scare me, but I know that is not happening to me.”

That would take all the fun out of the movie, wouldn’t it?

The film is structured to draw you into the story, to appeal to your emotions, making you see yourself as one of the characters in the movie. When you remind yourself of reality, the fear is reduced or may be removed. At that point, your thinking is no longer driven by the movie but by reality, reducing the film’s ability to engage or control your thoughts and fueling your fear.

Two Important Thoughts

So, there are two important implications. First, feelings and emotions are primarily RESPONDERS. When you watch a movie and feel scared, sad, happy, or even cry, your emotions respond to it. Feelings need something to respond to. Second, and most importantly, feelings are often UNTRUSTWORTHY. Your emotions are untrustworthy if you can be scared even when you’re not in danger (like watching a movie). Your emotions are real, but they are responding to something unreal. That is why when you tell yourself, “It’s just a movie,” the emotions are reduced or removed; they respond more to your thinking.

The SOLUTION – love – is not emotionless, nor is it emotion-led.