i was always told in trying to heal and learn that a feeling is a thought and I thought can be changed but I think that is too simplistic a view. I think they are facets of the same thing. Feelings seem to have a lot of thought but those thoughts came be very negative and very ingrained and create complete havoc in our minds and our lives and our self worth and value. I think this is why practicing positive self talk is so important. We need to hear the positive thoughts to oust the negative ones that are emotionally crippling us. 2 sides of the same coin I think perhaps with the added issues of neural pathways etc.. Interesting question.

I think that there are different situations that call for either thoughts or feelings and that neither one is correct all the time. In affairs of the heart, emotions should take president but there are equal examples where calm, cool rational thought are best. Maybe by a combination of both with neither one being dominant, but each called on when needed, a good compromise might be reached. Too emotional or too rational are both not quite right, What do the rest of you think? Eric

I think that I use emotion when I should use my head, and vice versa.

I think we start with a feeling, then we have a choice to either react to and defend that feeling, or to examine it by THINKING. Why do I feel this? Where did this feeling come from? Is this feeling appropriate for the situation or is it stemming from something else, something deeper and larger perhaps? I find when I am able to do this, which is not all the time, I can allow rational thought to temper my emotions a bit, providing a nice mix. Just my thoughts!

Dear E.G.,
Very well put! When rational thought can temper feelings, the results are always better than just reacting emotionally.

the right side of the brain is the creative side, the left is the intellectual side. with the creative side comes emotions and feelings. thoughts are from the other side. also, the creative side is where you can connect with your inner child. if you want to connect with him/her/ your intuition and to find what you are truly feeling... the emotions behind sadness, anger, happiness, etc (examples of these deeper emotions are frustration, greif, frightened, etc.) try writing or drawing with your non-dominant hand. this brings out the creativity and gets the right side of the brain working, which taps in to your emotions and hey presto, you can work out what it is that your actually feeling.
then it is important to validate how your feeling. say "i am feeling (scared), and that is ok, i am allowd to feel this way"
ok sorry if i blabbed on a bit, i just went to a course last week and learned all this and i found it fascinating! hope it helps.

That's very interesting - cool - thanks for sharing.

Dear Crimson,
An excellent post and an ingenious trick! Thank you for sharing that info! Eric

I'm always telling my son, who just graduated with a masters, that "business is business; it's not personal - it's business". I worked for years and it was difficult when you were trying to accomplish something and personal emotions crept into it derailing the right answers.
It always seemed to me that emotions are excellent with love, caring, validating for each other, etc. So completely essential. But it gets a little dicey in problem solving. And it's really hard at work. I've been married for 30 years now. And I think there's emotional problem solving between couples or with kids at times. When someone's hurt that emotional. You need hugging and touching, and loving words to feel better. BUT NOT AT WORK.....LOL!!!

Has anyone made a decision that was rational but emotionally unexceptionable? If so, how did you handle it? E