Friday, October 22, 1999

Feelings

Your feelings do not control you. They help you to understand yourself. They help you to relate to those around you. They bring you joy. They can cause you pain. They may give you a powerful reason to act, but they cannot cause you to take action without your active approval.

You can act in spite of your feelings, or you can act because of your feelings. At any given moment the choice is yours. A successful life often requires that you act against your feelings. A successful life also requires that you listen to your feelings and take them into consideration.

It is a delicate balance. Feelings are important and meaningful, yet the life that is given over only to feeling ends up empty, unfulfilled and, ironically, feeling terrible. On the other hand, a life devoid of feeling is just as empty.

Feel, think and act with independence. Keep in mind that a particular feeling does not necessarily require a particular action. Experience and appreciate your feelings, but don’t blame them for what you do. That is completely up to you.

— Ralph Marston

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Copyright ©1999 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All Rights Reserved. The Daily Motivator is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than personal sharing, please do not re-distribute without permission.