Are You The Decision Maker or Your Emotion?



Evening Reflection

Who Is the Decision Maker?

Yesterday, I encountered a few incidents that brought some difficulties, discomfort, and frustration into my day. At the same time, I noticed that one of the people I was speaking with also appeared to be carrying a great deal of frustration.

In the past, situations like these might easily have influenced my own mind. When another person becomes frustrated, their emotion can sometimes affect us without our realizing it. One person’s anger can create anger in another person. One person’s frustration can become another person’s frustration. Before we are aware of what is happening, an emotion can travel from one mind to another.

But yesterday, I tried to observe rather than immediately react.

I saw.

I watched.

I observed.

Then I asked myself a simple but important question:

“Am I the decision maker, or is my emotion the decision maker?”

My answer was clear:

“I am the decision maker.”

This awareness helped me understand something important about emotional life.

I cannot always prevent emotions from visiting my mind. Sometimes frustration appears unexpectedly. Sometimes disappointment arises because something does not happen according to my expectations. Sometimes anger, sadness, fear, or worry comes without asking for permission.

But the arrival of an emotion does not mean that I must obey it.

An emotion is a visitor.

When it visits, I can acknowledge its presence without allowing it to take control of my house.

If I continuously feed an emotion with thoughts, memories, arguments, and imagination, I give it more energy. The emotion may remain longer and become stronger. Eventually, it may begin making decisions for me.

But if I simply observe it with awareness, without feeding it with unnecessary thoughts, the emotion can gradually become weaker and eventually leave.

This does not mean that emotions are bad. They are part of being human. The practice is not to destroy emotions but to understand our relationship with them.

If an emotion stays for a long time and controls our decisions, we become its servant.

If an emotion comes and goes while awareness remains present, we remain the master of our decisions.

Yesterday reminded me that mindfulness does not mean that difficult situations will never happen. It means that when difficulties happen, we have a greater ability to choose our response.

We are not responsible for every emotion that visits us.

But we can become responsible for what we do with it.

Therefore, I would like to share this lesson with my readers:

We are the decision makers of our lives. Do not allow a temporary emotion to make permanent decisions for you.

Pause.

Observe.

Breathe.

Then choose wisely.


🌿 Reflection

When a strong emotion visits me, who is making my decision—my awareness or my emotion?

Can I create enough space between the emotion and my response to choose wisely?


🌱 Practice

Whenever frustration, anger, disappointment, fear, or sadness appears today, pause before responding.

Take three slow breaths.

Notice where the emotion appears in your body. Observe the thoughts connected with it. Do not fight the emotion, but do not feed it either.

Simply watch it.

Then ask:

“What response will create the most peace and wisdom?”

Practice choosing your response instead of allowing your emotion to choose it for you.


💚 Blessing

May we learn to recognize every emotion as a temporary visitor.

May we have the patience to observe before reacting, the wisdom to pause before deciding, and the courage to choose what is beneficial rather than what is merely emotional.

May our minds become peaceful enough to see clearly.

May our awareness become strong enough to guide our decisions.

And may we always remember:

An emotion may visit our mind, but it does not have to become the master of our life.

May we remain the decision makers, walking each moment with mindfulness, wisdom, peace, and compassion.


— Raksmey Koy

Art of Inner Peace

www.artofinnerpeace.com


Continue Your Journey

If today’s reflection touched your heart, I invite you to explore my books on Amazon. Each one is written to inspire mindfulness, wisdom, and inner peace. Thank you for walking this journey with me.

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/raksmeykoy


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