Perfect Match

There is a direct correlation between human motivation and human emotion. Even the psychopath operates on a need to fulfill some emotional drive, whether overt or deeply rooted in his psyche. Every decision we make in life is deeply influenced by emotion whether it be boredom, joy, anger, hunger, pain, fatigue, etc. The fact that we cover ourselves in the cold isn’t a response to the physical discomfort but instead due to what we feel emotionally regarding that discomfort. Most people dislike physical pain, some like it or get a rush from it.

We recognize our own motivations most of the time although there are things we do each day which we never give a moment’s thought to. Our likes and dislikes are so much a part of us that they influence our movements from the second we awaken at a preferred time until we fall asleep again in a preferred position. What we buy, where we work, and who we befriend are all dependent on emotional gratification.

Knowing ourselves, we can predict our own behavior. We’d feel certain of what our actions might be in any given situation and yet find, when faced with certain situations, that we act out of what we’d consider our normal character. Whether there are underlying emotions left over from past experiences which we’ve relegated to the recesses of our minds or emotions newly developed never having been felt before, through these silent influences we find that we aren’t always as predictable as we thought. Many a hero has been made of painfully timid individuals when forced to make a choice and rising to the challenge. Many a coward has been proven in similar situations. Even a battered spouse who’s endured for decades may one day strike back. We aren’t always as predictable as we’d like to think so we should never overestimate or underestimate ourselves. We aren’t defined by any moment but the one in which we exist.

In an effort to distract my mind and hopefully find a pathway to sleep, I was thinking of a book I finished the other day and it brought this subject to mind. Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult is about just such a situation. Having prosecuted countless child abusers through the years, a law-abiding assistant DA reacts out of character when it is her own child who suffers similar abuse. What would you do for those you love? To what extent would you go? Do you know?