Five Reasons to be Emotional about Lifestyle Decisions

Image by Melody Campbell via Flickr

What limits life’s possibilities?

There is a limit to what I believe is possible.    I don’t know where it came from or who gave it control but  there is a little voice in my head  that tells me what is possible and what is not. It could be the voice of reason.  It could be sound judgement- a built-in guide to keep you on target and focused in your life.  But it might be something else entirely.

Everybody tells you to be smart., to think before you act and to use reason instead of emotion to guide your actions.. I’m going to suggest that you ignore that advice. Let emotions direct your actions. Do something because it feels right. Instead of killing the impulse with intellectual questions that destroy excitement and blur vision.

Be reasonable. Isn’t that what you’ve heard all your life? Maybe you shared some wild idea with a friend and they smiled indulgently and told you to be reasonable. If so you need new friends. Reasonable is supposed to be the best we can expect, the outcome we deserve. Reasonable assesses our talents, training and potential.  Reasonable is what we deserve.  Wanting more is clearly unreasonable and no one has a right to be unreasonable. That’s reasonable, isn’t it? Well what does the dictionary say is the meaning of reasonable

rea·son·a·ble

[ree-zuh-nuh-buhl, reez-nuh-]  Show IPA

adjective

agreeable to reason  or sound judgment; logical: a reasonable choice for chairman.

not exceeding the limit prescribed by reason;  not excessive: reasonable terms.

moderate, especially in price; not expensive: The coat was reasonable but not cheap.

Reasonable means safe.

There it is in black and white.  Reasonable is limiting the possibilities.  Reducing your expectations.  Lowering your target. Restricting your potential.

We have been conditioned to accept reasonable as a criterion for making decisions about life when in fact reasonable is a poor criterion for making life changes.  The context of a reasonable decision is a know world-one in which you understand all the parameters.  If you want to escape that known world, being reasonable won’t help you.  When you make a decision that is reasonable, you limit the possibilities to the ones you know.    As a result, reasonable decisions are constrained and safe.  They ignore all the possibilities of the larger world that you don’t know.  If you want to change your life, then you are already being unreasonable because you are rejecting what others accept as good enough.  For that reason,  lifestyle designers should reject reason and embrace emotions when they make a lifestyle design plan. Here are five reasons why emotion should form the basis for these plans.

1. Emotions enable belief

When you attach emotion to something you desire, it helps you become a believer and pushes you past all the questions about your ability and knowledge. The emotion is like a crutch to hold you up as you pursue your goal and learn what you need to know to make it happen.

2. Emotions energize

Emotion creates energy and enthusiasm about your goal, lifting you out of the lethargy and boredom of the routine.

3. Emotions inspire others

When you show your commitment to a worthwhile goal that goes beyond reasonable, others catch that enthusiasm and believe that they can be unreasonable too.

4. Emotions create a following

People follow a leader. They are inspired by someone who knows what they want and pulls out all the stops to make it happen. They want to be close to someone who is going places.

5. Emotions enlarge vision

When you get emotional about a goal and begin to believe, your mind will free itself and you will begin to see even more outrageous goals that you can consider. As you begin to achieve success, your dreams will reach higher.

So what about you?

How do you approach your life decisions?  Are you letting logic drown the emotions in your life? Do you limit your possibilities to only those that are ‘reasonable’ or are you open to unreasonable?  Do you stop yourself from getting what you want and use reason as an excuse?