'So help me understand them,' pleaded Mack.
'Not much to understand, actually. They just are. They are neither bad nor good; they just exist. Here is something that will help you sort this out in your mind, Mackenzie. Paradigms power perceptions and perceptions power emotions.Most actions are responses to emotions just as most emotions are simply responses to perceptions - what you think is true about a given situation. If your perception is false or based on falsehood, then your emotional response to it will be false and misleading too. So check your perceptions, and beyond that keep checking the truthfulness of your paradigms - what you believe about yourself, other people, and the world. The more you live in the truth, the more your emotions will help you see clearly, vs. distract or impede you. But even then, you don't ever want to trust them more than you trust me.'
-- William P. Young, in The Shack