Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Using Your Personal Truths to Guide Life Decisions

Three Truths have emerged tonight after an unexpected, impulsive cyber encounter.

First:

  • We make decisions in the heat of the moment, which later we may regret. 


Second:

  • Anonymity creates a shield which decreases the inhibition further during these moments


Third:

  • If you listen to your conscience after the moment has passed, you can discern the degree to which you felt discomfort. 


Taken together, experiences over life should allow us to avoid Truth #1 in the first place, if we have learned from our past mistakes.  Truth #2 should key us into the fact that fantasy versus reality are often very different from one another. Truth #3 helps guide us through life.

Interestingly, Truth #1 can apply to all emotions: lust, anger, love, joy, anxiety, sadness.  If we make decisions when our mind is not centered, we are not able to listen to our conscience (Truth #3).  I would think, therefore, that life experiences we build over time will help prevent us from incorrect decisions.  We can rely on rational stances and/or morals that we have established over time to help guide us during times of uncertainty and torrents of emotion.  In this case, we will feel confident about our decisions in the long run, even if in the heat of the moment, we are convinced we have the correct answer.

I have experienced this countless times in times of anxiety, anger, or even joy.  I remember the period in my life when I was not on anxiety medications... even my moments of joy, in hindsight, were truly manic and impulsive.  Although my creative side would kick into high gear, I would often be exhausted afterwards, with non-sustainable expectations toward life.

1 comment:

  1. I'm struck by the logical nature and approach for issues which are very emotional and illogical. I like it. An instruction manual in a way, which provides guideposts and warnings of emotions gone awry. I'm struck by how true this is even 1 year later..... and I'm struck at how difficult it is to follow such simple, Zen-like, instructions.

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