Тонкое искусство пофигизма

           Positiveemotions,ontheotherhand,arerewardsfortakingtheproperaction.Whenyoufeelthem,lifeseemssimpleandthereisnothingelsetodobutenjoyit.Then,likeeverythingelse,thepositiveemotionsgoaway,becausemoreproblemsinevitablyemerge.

           Emotionsarepartoftheequationofourlives,butnottheentireequation.Justbecausesomethingfeelsgooddoesn’tmeanitisgood.Justbecausesomethingfeelsbaddoesn’tmeanitisbad.Emotionsaremerelysignposts,suggestionsthatourneurobiologygivesus,notcommandments.Therefore,weshouldn’talwaystrustourownemotions.Infact,Ibelieveweshouldmakeahabitofquestioningthem.

           Manypeoplearetaughttorepresstheiremotionsforvariouspersonal,social,orculturalreasons—particularlynegativeemotions.Sadly,todenyone’snegativeemotionsistodenymanyofthefeedbackmechanismsthathelpapersonsolveproblems.Asaresult,manyoftheserepressedindividualsstruggletodealwithproblemsthroughouttheirlives.Andiftheycan’tsolveproblems,thentheycan’tbehappy.Remember,painservesapurpose.

           Butthentherearethosepeoplewhooveridentifywiththeiremotions.Everythingisjustifiedfornootherreasonthantheyfeltit.“Oh,Ibrokeyourwindshield,butIwasreallymad;Icouldn’thelpit.”Or“IdroppedoutofschoolandmovedtoAlaskajustbecauseitfeltright.”Decision-makingbasedonemotionalintuition,withouttheaidofreasontokeepitinline,prettymuchalwayssucks.