Reason versus emotion

Stop pitting your emotions againstc your reason or your reason against your emotions. The emotion and reason have different but complementary and intertwined roles. Reason helps to order our world: analysing, synthesi sing, organising, planning, problem solving, spatialising and imagining scenarios. Emotions, on the other hand, move us. The words "emotion", "move" and "motivate" have the same origin, and this is no coincidence: emotions tell us what to look for and what to avoid.

It is common to think that emotions interfere with rational thinking, but if you completely ignore your emotions, wouldn't that thinking be irrational because you don't understand the full scope of what you are experiencing? Ideally, you should consider your emotions.

Our emotions are like spoiled children: demanding and capricious, needing to be controlled by the intellect so as not to mess up. Our rational is cold and calculating, and like a teenager, we always want to be right, but we need the warmth of emotions to understand what really matters.

The emotions must play an important role in how we think and behave. They can compel us, make us act and influence the decisions we make about our lives, whether big or small. We should always keep in mind that emotions can be powerful and often pleasurable experiences, but they usually do not last long and we do not control when they should "show up".

Both emotion and reason provide valuable information and guide our behaviour. Achieving a balance between reason and emotion is the key to getting along better with yourself and others.