Emotions drive our lives. They are powerful forces that can impel us towards good activity. Unfortunately, they can also impel us toward destructive activity. Some of our best decisions and some of our worst decisions came out of strong emotions. Does it have to be this way?
Throughout the ages, philosophers, psychologists, and religious leaders have contemplated the problem of emotions. Here is a summation of their key finding: calibrate your emotions to reality. As Thomas Aquinas says when it comes to courage, “Hence it belongs to fortitude that man should moderate his fear according to reason, namely that he should fear what he ought, and when he ought, and so forth” (Q. 126, A. 2, 1718).
Our emotions may reflect reality, but they also may not. We do not need to take them at face value. Concretely:
- If we are scared, it does not mean there is a real threat.
- If we are sad, it does not mean that we have lost something.
- If we are angry, it does not mean that there is an injustice.
- If we are joyful, it does not mean that things are going well.
The reverse is also true. Continue reading “Calibrate Your Emotions to Reality”