Sometimes it seems as if we humans are torn inside. Caught in the eternal conflict between something like reason and our intuition. The feeling says very clearly A, but the mind admonishes afterwards it's C, you'd better take the money and get out – and we are faced with a dilemma again. We try to control violent feelings with our thoughts; terrible thoughts make us anxious or angry. It is as if there is an ongoing battle raging within us, in which two opposing forces attack each other.
Mind is often valued higher
We then usually have a tendency to show the understanding part more respect than the feeling and also to trust it more. We judge someone who cries or screams, has a fit of laughter or is overjoyed tends to be less serious, competent and convincing than someone who appears emotionally controlled and argues rationally. And if we feel something, but somehow cannot explain the feeling, our sensation is quickly overlaid by a fat portion of insecurity.
Feeling and understanding belong together
In fact, both the idea of a battle between two opposing forces and the preference for ratio are neither correct nor sensible. Our feelings and thoughts are a team that pulls in the same direction and, together, forms our personality. Both our emotions and our objective, conscious ideas have their origin in our brain, so they are basically products of the same source.
Experiments have already shown that those who have to cope with demanding intellectual tasks have less capacity to feel and therefore feel less intensely. Those who in turn experience violent emotions find it more difficult to face logical challenges. Ideally, we keep a balance between feeling and mind and include both in our lives.
The certified coach and author Attila Albert told us how we can do this – you can find his tips on how we can bring heart and mind into harmony and make the best possible use of them in our gallery. You can read more advice and information about the human personality and why life is sometimes more complicated than it needs to be in his book "I'm not doing it anymore".