The Pains of an Emotion-Driven Life

By default, it is normal for human beings to live an emotion-driven life based on the challenges prevalent. Being emotional about some issues makes you shallow, peripheral and not a deep thinker. At this point, the mind takes the back seat while emotions take over the wheel.

Take charge and jettison the emotion-driven life.

What is Emotion?

Emotion is a conscious mental reaction subjectively experienced as a strong feeling usually directed toward a specific object and typically accompanied by a physiological and behavioural change in the body. Situations in the country and even in the world at times give rise to emotions, most times not rational. From the economy to education to sports to governance to employment – all in a pitiable state that can call for an outburst of emotions.

Examples of Example-Driven Lives

The Biblical Samson was the judge of Israel for 20 years, he recorded sporadic exploits against the heathen nation. However, Samson’s emotion-driven life which encompasses his sexual lust and desires eventually led to his downfall. The strong became weak, the gallant became the chicken-livered, and the celebrated became infamous.

When emotions rule your life, you become a weakling with no sense of direction.

Esau was a man the Bible named a profane person because he couldn’t control his excessive appetite. He literally jettisoned and despised his birthright -which consisted of headship in the family, a double portion of inheritance and also an access to the covenant blessing that God had promised Abraham.

Esau foolishly chose to trade his futuristic blessing for present momentary satisfaction. He allowed his emotions of tiredness and extreme hunger to override his reasoning faculties. His emotions, however, made him blind to the future. For him, the future was too far. All that mattered at that moment to him was his stomach satisfaction.

Similarly, Cain surrendered the entirety of his reasoning faculty to the emotion of jealousy and anger which made him murder his brother, Abel. He lost his sane mind because his sacrifice was rejected and that of his brother was gladly accepted by God.

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If he had been rational rather than been emotional, this could have made him humble and really seek to know what Abel had done to make his sacrifice acceptable. Realistically that could have been a good avenue to learn, right the wrongs and settle scores with his Creator.

Characteristic of an Emotion-Driven Life

Emotion-driven individuals are characteristically shallow thinkers, hasty decision makers, individuals with no foresight, always sentimental, biased, rigid, stereotypical and judgmental.

Hasty decision-making is never far from individuals who base their judgements or reasoning on the way they feel. They are more of the present than the future.

The question is, do you let your emotions rule your brain into taking ill-calculated decisions?
Let your brain rule your emotions

Most Nigerians are so hasty in making decisions based on the prevalent economic situations. We allow the emotions of hunger and economic hardship make us take wrong decisions especially during electioneering periods, we become blank and confused as to the person we want to elect. The stomach, however, becomes our driving force in decision making.

Once a politician aspiring to get a political post is able to satisfy our belly, he is adjudged “The man of the people”.

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Desperate politicians are however aware of this, hence they make “stomach infrastructure” part of their agenda. We, unfortunately, fall in love with this so called stomach infrastructure rather than futuristic infrastructure, and we go ahead to vote in visionless rulers whose 7-point agenda is to milk the treasury dry instead of electing men of exceptional vision for the country and incredible track records.

We can, therefore, be likened to the Biblical Esau who for a morsel of porridge sold his birthright.

How To Get Out of the Emotion-Driven Life

The best way to be rational rather than emotional is to ask questions like “WHY!”.

This will provoke you to think deeply before taking actions. Pause and ask yourself these questions.

• Why should I be angry?
• Why should I act in this fashion?
• Why should I speak?
• Why should I do this?
• Why go into this? Is it worth it?

Indeed, if you know the Y’s, you will obviously know the Z’s.

• Never act without asking yourself questions.
• Be quick to hear, but slow to react.
• Determine to put your emotions in the passenger’s seat, and let your brains of rationality take over the wheels of your reasoning!