You know what you like, right?  You spend your time and money on goals you choose using your BEST THINKING.  Who doesn’t?

Well, me for one. 

Perhaps, you and the rest of the people in the world operate, at all times, with your THINKING GUIDANCE SYSTEM in charge.  But I have issues.  My EMOTIONAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM is a very tricky beast.  A liar and a cheat, actually.   . . . the money I’ve spent, the time I’ve wasted . . .    

The EMOTIONAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM is very popular.  The sweeties hawking miracle weight-loss pills and re-packaged exercise machines, the chant “I want it all, and I want it NOW,” while the man calls his high interest credit card company to find out how much he can go in hock for to have it all now, . . .  the insurance company urging you to buy and pay on-line “to save trees,” these folks are not speaking to our THINKING GUIDANCE SYSTEMS.

The problem is, it seems like we’re thinking, that our decisions are well-thought out, when our emotions are running the show.

Two examples: The Horseshow Revelation and The Man Who Understood Love

Setting for the Horseshow Revelation:  Any one of several dozen collesiums around the South and the Southwest.  First morning of a four day to one week show. 

Background:  Showing jumping horses is expensive, time-consuming, and sometimes dangerous.  More so for some than others.  More costly for me as a working student and then a career woman rather than coming into the sport the natural way by being born into a family who can actually afford it.  More dangerous for me as my enthusiasm always outranks my skill.  

Okay, there I am, first morning of the show.  My high-top black boots are shiny, my heart is in my throat.  About now, I notice what has, until this moment, eluded me.  I’m thinking,

“Why am I even here?  I don’t even like this sport–or whatever kind of obsessive foolishness this is.  I should be spending my money on improving the house, donating more to charity, travelling, studying, or improving my pathetic wardrobe.  Only an idiot would think jumping horses over fences was worth working for.  Speaking of which, I don’t have anything in common with these people just because I’ve been hanging around them since I was twelve. I can’t wait until this horseshow is over so I can return to my home city and start my new and better life.”                       

The show goes on.  A few ribbons and exciting rides later it is day three.

I’m sitting in the stands, my high top boots dusty, my body good tired.  I’m saying to my buddies, “I love horseshows!  I’m so lucky we have a good circuit.  You guys are my best friends.     When is the next show?”

We think we’re thinking when we say we LIKE  or DON’T LIKE certain people, places, and things when our IDEAS have been formed by our fears.  The saddest is when we let fears turn us away from goals.  Our EMOTIONAL GUIDANCE SYSTEMS exaggerate potential losses. 

“Oh no, what if I spend all this time on a biology course I never use?”  EGS:  That will be terrible, awful, and you can’t stand it!

TGS:  You’ll miss a little television.

Next:  Love.  How one man learns has his “horseshow revelation” about women and knows true love.