On second thought

Any event in our lives registers as a feeling in the amygdala of our brains within milliseconds. We then are set to take some form of action on them. We proceed to act on feelings of happy, sad, glad, or mad or some variation of them. We have been equipped with a number of hormones that support the execution of that action. But the brain doesn't always differentiate the cause of the feelings that form the basis for action. For example, you are sitting in a movie theater watching a film that contains a scene in which the hero is approached from behind by a sinister force. Your brain lights up in the same way it would if you were in that position. The amygdala senses fear and prepares to act on it even though you are sitting in a safe environment. It requires a different part of the brain to reassure you that you are safe. How often do we take our emotional reactions at face value and fail to apply those second thoughts to confirm or deny their reality? In the majority of cases, our emotional reactions are accurate such as when we are about to drive through a red light into a busy intersection or when we are reunited with a loved one after a period of being apart. We ask for the gift of discernment in separating the two situations, the valid from the invalid. Recall when second thoughts would have led to a different outcome. What would you have done differently based on that discernment?