If we look back at times when we wish we had acted and decided differently, one thing in common may well stand out; we acted under an emotion that clouded our judgement, only for us to see things clearly at a later time when our mind had settled. Doing things in the heat of the moment may well be our undoing.

Anger clouds our judgement, and we end up feeding our ego and hurt, rather than rationally evaluating the situation. We almost always end up regretting having said something we should not have. Anger has the power to take us away from our balance.

Fear drives us into a dark space where we feel helpless and scared, in spite of not only knowing better, but in fact having the ability to rise above the challenge. Fear has the power to hide our true potential.

Temptation casts the magical spell of enchanting us momentarily, such that we temporarily lose memory of our convictions and decisions, ending up doing things which we spend enormous time correcting.

And yet, these emotions are part of our lives and keep surfacing in spite of our best efforts. The question is not why they come; the bigger question is, how do we protect ourselves? Steven Covey has beautifully put it when he says – Between stimulus and response there is a space, in that space lies our choice of response, and in that response lies our freedom and growth.

And when we reflect upon this with a cool head, we will realise that we may end up making fewer mistakes, hurting fewer people, and living with fewer regrets, if we don’t forget the simple rule that we shouldn’t strike when things get hot.

(Picture – Canadian Rockies)