
Well, that entirely depends on whether our impulsivity is being inspired from a good feeling place or a negative feeling place. A good question to ask ourselves in these situations is, “Am I feeling good or bad as I contemplate this action I’m considering taking right now?” Many people would consider impulsiveness to be a negative trait, especially considering the definition of the word means taking action without reflection on the possible consequences, and even more so when describing a person’s actions if they’re younger in age.
This does have some common sense thinking behind it for if we’ve had less life experience, we’re usually less aware of certain consequences that may come from our actions and therefore are potentially more likely to do something that could produce unwanted outcomes not previously considered. It’s often only through the living of many different experiences and their consequences that one learns and comes to understand and consider more deeply the potential consequences and outcomes of different actions.
If we do take an impulsive action from a negative or unknown place, this does not necessarily mean we will experience negative consequences, just as taking an action from a positive feeling place does not guarantee positive consequences, as it matters how you react to circumstances and challenges as things unfold and when we generally sit emotionally at other times. But we definitely increase our chances of experiencing positive consequences from being inspired from a good feeling place and doing our best to work through any difficulties that may arise in the most positive way we can as we move forward through experiences.
Asking oneself, “In which direction do I have the most momentum of thoughts and feelings going right now? Do I have a negative, neutral, or positive feeling about what I am contemplating doing now, and is that feeling strong or weak?”This will help us to gauge what the possible outcome may be if our feelings stays the same as they currently are. It’s important to know that when we start something, how we think and feel about what’s currently unfolding is constantly changing meaning the outcome is also constantly changing.
For action to be taken there must be some positive momentum behind it for one will not usually act from a strongly negative place for we are all instinctively reaching to feel better, not worse. It just depends on where we are emotionally to what the next best feeling emotional place is for us, for what may feel good to one person may feel bad to another. If we’re in rage or revenge, anger feels better, if we’re in contentment or hope, belief feels better. So even though anger may be a better feeling place than where we currently were, this is not a place we want to be taking any actions from for it rarely reaps positive outcomes.
It would be preferable to take the time required to move to a more positive emotional place before considering taking any action, but if we are coming to understanding that our current thoughts and feelings are creating our current and future experiences, making a decision to feel as good as we possibly can to whatever happens increases our chances of experiencing positive outcomes. It also matters what our general mood is at other times as this indicates wether we perceive the world as generally a good place, or generally a place where mostly unwanted things happen. Descriptive words such as happy, easygoing, quiet, aggressive, controlling, chilled, assertive, friendly and so forth indicates some of the moods that people tend to spend much of their time in, that over time, can often become quite strong personality traits.
A person who believes the world is a harsh and dangerous place is no doubt seeing many unwanted circumstances and likely has a stronger expectation of unwanted things happening. Alternatively someone who sees the world as a friendlier place will be attracting more uplifting circumstances and will naturally see the world in a more positive light with a naturally higher expectation of good things happening.
It can be easy to judge others as we observe them taking actions we’ve labelled as wrong, but for them it’s highly likely to be movement to a better feeling place than where they just were. Judging someone as wrong and thinking that that will make them make better choices has a long history of not working, and in fact encourages exactly what we are not wanting because we get more of what we’re focused on.
Instead, focusing on the best of what we want for others but understanding they have their own choices and path to follow let’s love and compassion flow through you to them, and is the best gift you have to give another……
And so it is……