How to Find Balance Between Thinking and Emotion
Using the concept of the rider and the horse.
I came across the concept of the rider and the horse from a book by Robert Greene titled “The laws of human nature.”
We cannot totally separate emotions from our thinking because the two are completely intertwined.
But there’s always going to be a dominant one.
Some people (like me) are more governed by their emotions while others are clearly more governed by reason.
Since the quality of our lives is inevitably reflective of the type of decisions we make, the aim is to find a proper balance between the two factors: thinking and emotion.
The ancient Greeks had a perfect metaphor for this: the rider and the horse.
The rider and the horse
The horse is our emotional nature — always impelling us to move. It has great energy and power but tends to trail on the path of danger. Because the horse is wild, curious and subject to predators, it needs a rider to guide it.
The rider is our thinking self. It guides the horse through training and practice. It holds the reins and directs the horse, transforming its energy into something meaningful.
