What about feelings?

Thinking can be fun, stimulating, exciting and useful, but emotions
provide the only path to fully enjoy a rewarding, happy, joyful life.
Early Freudian psychologists decided that anyone who participated in
extreme sports was mentally unstable (A. The most basic instinct of all
living things is to preserve their life. B. Extreme sports could kill you. C.
Anyone who risks their life must be crazy!). You may agree with them,
but the fact remains that sometimes there’s nothing better than jumping
off a cliff into an icy-cold lake with your friends for the sheer joy of living
(A. The most basic human motivation is to seek happiness or pleasure.
B. Jumping off cliffs into cold water wakes you up, clears your mind like
nothing else can, and feels great, at least once you climb onto dry land.
C. Anyone who doesn’t jump is chicken. D. Last one in’s a rotten egg!).
Sometimes feeling - intuition, that is - can guide you to truths that your
mind knew nothing about. Because of this, experienced individuals often
trust their intuition even more than they trust their thoughts. Relying on
the mind is described as using the “ego mind” and is considered more
limited and limiting in terms of its ability to solve problems, accomplish
goals and enjoy life fully. Even such “enlightened” people, however, must
continually use their minds to carefully distinguish between trustworthy
intuition and random thoughts or feelings.
Do you believe this? Do you allow for the possibility that it may be true
until you gather more evidence?
In any case, critical thinking skills are necessary in order to develop the
ability to distinguish between circumstances where it’s appropriate to use
your brain, your emotions, or your intuition.
If you have trouble experiencing rich emotions, you may simply be a
highly logical individual. Having such an effective mind may have allowed
your emotional skills to dwindle from lack of use (why drive the Pinto when
you have a Ferrari?).
Another common problem blocking emotions results from old,
buried pain that your mind protects you from by blocking your ability
to experience emotion. Critical thinking can lead you to find the mental
constructs blocking emotion, dig them up, and pass through the necessary
grieving process to free your heart. It’s a tough road, so if you begin it,
expect to find some pain, confusion and discouragement along the way.
Look
before you
leap, but by
all means -
Leap!!!
Point
of View
160 The Art & Craft of Writing It’s often a long road, as well. That’s life. Critical thinking can help you find
ways to experience happiness despite the temporary pain. Visit your school
counseling center or talk to a wise, trusted friend to help you through.