We give a lot of power to our feelings. We treat feelings as factual input and often allow them to determine our behavior. We forget that feelings are very subjective and can arise from faulty perceptions. Ever wake up one morning and feel really fat? It's not because you gained 10 pounds while you slept. It's a distortion based on a certain mirror angle or on self-doubt fed by a recent break-up or on a comparison to a skinny friend you saw last night. The point is, you respond to the feeling as if it's a statement of truth and then are filled with self-loathing.
Feelings can contain important information, but they need to be carefully scanned to see if they arise from inaccurate perceptions and assumptions. It's also important to stay in charge of how you respond to a feeling even if it seems legitimate. For example, you can allow an absence of sexual feelings to shut down your sex life or you can decide to act your way into feeling what you want to feel.
Feelings are important. Just not nearly as important as you probably think they are.
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