I have seen young men shedding tears over a lost match of cricket, I have seen fist fights over an unintentionally scratched car, I have seen years of friendships being reduced to moments of anger over a political Facebook status, I have seen numbness to children painted in blood on the news, I have seen slashed wrists for a love that never was, I have seen broken homes over impatience and intolerance, I have seen this nation crumbling before my eyes because of the inability to curb their ‘nafs’ – that inner voice which rules over their minds and souls. I have seen every single person around me enslaved in the name of their emotions. I have seen a complete and utter mess.
There is a fine line between emotion and feeling. While we are accountable for the former, the latter is merely a hormonal change which occurs as a reaction to the circumstances we are put into by life. A feeling of remorse is innocent till it becomes an attempt of suicide. A feeling of restlessness is repairable till it becomes an anxiety disorder. A feeling of annoyance can be brushed off if it doesn’t turn into a fit of rage. That moment where a feeling can subside to a mere thought or can amplify to an action driven by emotion – that moment defines every wrong or right decision you will make in your life. One moment can allow you to enter a world of pure joy, or take away the source of all contentment from the core of your existence. One moment can gift you years of health, or throw you in the pits of drug abuse or chain smoking. One moment can open doors of professional opportunities or let you fall into nothingness.
That one moment is called emotional control.
