What is correct – being emotional or being practical?

Let’s first understand the difference between being emotional and being practical. Being emotional means whenever we make a decision, we base the decision on ‘how we feel’. On the other hand, being practical means that when we make a decision, we base it on the knowledge that we have.

For example, even after knowing that waking up at 6 o’clock is necessary to reach college on time, if you decide to sleep in because you feel like it, your decision is made by being emotional. But, if you know that if you don’t wake up on time, you won’t get enough time to have breakfast, which will result in a headache, so you decide not to sleep in. Then, this is a practical decision.

Whenever any incident comes in front of you, you have a choice whether to react to it based on what you feel or based on what you know. If you react based on ‘what you feel,’ you are making an emotional decision. But if you react based on ‘what you know,’ you are making a practical decision.

Now, let’s come to the question: Is being emotional better or is being practical better?

Consider an example of a girl who knows how to drive a two-wheeler, do the housework, and also knows how to study. When this girl drives a two-wheeler, she uses the skills required for that task. When she does housework, she uses the skills required for housework — cooking, cleaning, etc. And when she studies, she uses skills like concentration, focus, etc. Once these skills are acquired by her, what remains is showcasing them for the appropriate task in hand.

Similarly, if we have acquired the skills of being emotional and being practical, what remains is when to showcase these skills. We don’t need to balance them. ‘When’ it is time to be ‘practical,’ we need to make a decision based on our knowledge, and ‘when’ it is time to be ‘emotional,’ we need to base the decision on our emotions. Just like we don’t need to balance the skills required to drive a two-wheeler, to do household chores, and to study, we don’t need to balance being practical and being emotional. We only need to know when to use these skills and use them at those times!