I had my pre-op psych consult this morning. The counselor said that we make decisions based on two things- emotions/feelings and wants. Emotions and feelings are our present or perhaps past things- but wants are future things.

The example he gave is- if you get up in the morning and aren't feeling super great, you still probably go to work anyways because you want a paycheck, or to save up your vacation for something else, or because you want to finish or do something important at work, etc. Even though you FEEL kind of crummy, your WANT for those other things dictate your decision to go ahead and go in to work. And the closer you get to work, usually you start feeling a bit better. Once in awhile we feel so bad that we do stay home, but that's not the usual course.

He said that making decisions based on what we WANT helps us to decide things based on future outcomes. Basing us on feelings and emotions keeps us stuck in the present, or even the past.

So make decisions based on WANTS- and not on emotions and feelings. Once in awhile the emotions and feelings take over, but if that becomes rare, then it's manageable.

Feelings and emotions pass. Wants- I want to be healthy, I want to sit in the airplane seat comfortably when I go on vacation, I want to look good at my daughter's wedding- those will lead us to better decision making in the long run.

I hope this is coherent. It was a good psych consult!

Wow!!! I like these aha moments. Thank you for sharing.