Thoughts + Emotions = Actions

Did you ever had an experience where you were supposed to meet your loved one, say, at 7pm for dinner. You were there at 6.55pm and the other person has not arrived. What was your reaction? Well, for most people, no problem. 7pm, and the other person still has not arrived. What then was your reaction? For some, still no problem, while others, they start having, in NLP terms, a change of state. Meaning, they start getting worried or edgy. 7.30pm and still no sign; most will start having a major change of state.

Of course, in today's context, we will most probably send an sms to the other person and find out where he or she is. Let's just say, you called or sent numerous sms-es but still no response. What happens now?

Some of us might get really worried while some might be furious. So, why do some of us get worried while others get furious? It could be because this person you are meeting is always either on time or early. So we may start thinking, could this person be involved in an accident? Those of us who are furious may react this way because there has been past instances where this person has been late and he or she never bothered to tell us or inform us. Or maybe this person just didn't care or worse, this person may be out with someone else?

So, from this simple illustration we can see that based on similar, if not same, situation we can all react differently. And the reason why we react differently is because of the way we think about things. For those of us who think that, this person might be involved in an accident; we feel worried. And for those of us who think that this person didn't care, feel angry. And how we will react to that person when he or she finally shows up (that is if we waited for this person anyway, or that this person actually shows up) depends greatly on how we felt!

Say, if we felt worried, some of the things we might say include; "thank God you are alright! What happened to you? Are you ok?" For those of us who felt angry, might say, "there you go again, making others wait for you", or "where the hell did you go?", or "you really have the nerve to have me waited so long".

So indeed how we will react to situations really depend a whole lot on how we think. As we think thoughts of concerns, we feel worried. On the other hand, thoughts of how irresponsible this person is, makes us feel angry. And hence, this will lead to different response to the person when he or she shows up. Of course, how this person will react to your response is the topic for another discussion.

Today, we will like to just reflect on why we will think different thoughts. Because when we are able to change our thoughts (or think in a different manner) that will lead us into a more resourceful state, that will lead us to better results, as results are a consequence of our actions.
So, "thoughts + emotions = actions".