Too often, thinking becomes emotional. Maybe a thought triggers old baggage. Perhaps embracing new knowledge threatens the way you see reality. The greater your resistance, the more volatile the reaction. Being open-minded is a lofty goal, but you are an emotional being.
When confronted with information that provokes an emotional reaction you have any number of choices including:
- hold onto what you know with righteous indignation and shut down your thinking
- let go (if you can) and see what happens
- distract yourself from this particular line of thinking and return when you are ready
- work through your feelings until the path is clear to move your thinking forward
- do something physical to help work through your feelings
- fight the emotional battle within yourself to allow better thinking
You will make different choices depending on the thoughts and feelings you experience. You may even cycle through many of the choices listed above or find choices of your own. Part of thinking is developing emotional intelligence, a personal process only you can design.
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