Image: Flickr/Victoria Nevland

“In the midst of great joy, do not promise anyone anything. In the midst of great anger, do not answer anyone’s letter.” (Chinese Proverb)

Emotions are a wonderful thing that none of us wants to go through life without. However, experiencing them and making decisions based upon them are two very different things. The ancient proverb quoted above speaks to this truth. By all means, be in the moment and allow yourself to feel things like joy and anger. But remember that the heat of the moment is never a good time to make decisions about anything. When we get emotionally reactive, our judgment gets clouded.

Take a moment. Think. Breathe. Otherwise, you will certainly end up doing things you don’t really want to do and upsetting people who certainly don’t deserve it.