You like to imagine yourself in control of your fate, consciously planning the course of your life as best you can. But you are largely unaware of how deeply your emotions dominate you. They make you veer toward ideas that soothe your ego. They make you look for evidence that confirms what you already want to believe. They make you see what you want to see, depending on your mood, and this disconnect from reality is the source of the bad decisions and negative patterns that haunt your life. Rationality is the ability to counteract these emotional effects, to think instead of react, to open your mind to what is really happening, as opposed to what you are feeling. It does not come naturally; it is a power we must cultivate, but in doing so we realize our greatest potential. 你喜歡想象自己掌控自己的命運，有意識地盡可能最好地規劃自己的人生道路。但你很大程度上沒有意識到你的情緒如何深深地支配著你。它們讓你轉向那些能撫慰你自尊的想法。它們讓你尋找那些能證實你已經想要相信的事物的證據。它們讓你看到你想看到的東西，這取決于你的心情，而這種與現實脫節是困擾你生活的糟糕決定和負面模式的根源。理性是抵消這些情緒影響的能力，是思考而不是反應，是打開你的心靈去接受真正發生的事情，而不是你正在感受的事情。