This is the final article of a three piece series.

All right, so reason has some valid uses. But, reason is not always fun. We want emotion. We want spontaneous pillow-fights. We enjoy cursing each other out one minute to swoon over each other the next. After all, we’re only human and that show "The Real World" is actually an accurate depiction of modern-day America. So, when should we succumb to emotion?

Emotion can clarify your passion for someone. As imperative as it often is to take only calculated risks so that your life is stable and sustainable, sometimes excessive stability can indicate a fear of excitement. Is it necessarily the most prudent decision to skip a day of work just to do something spontaneous with your loved one? Maybe not. But, does the possibility of crafting lifelong and unique memories, in an intuitive way, make absolute sense? Absolutely. The fundamental risk – benefit analysis might dissuade you from doing so but at least occasionally, heartfelt choices must supersede rationality. Do not derail your life. But also do not allow pragmatic, mundane, and strictly rationale choices to degrade your spirit.

So, emotion can defy odds and incite us to assume risk, which we otherwise would shirk. It enables us to release our inhibition, rendering us absolutely vulnerable but also granting us passage from mere existence to vibrant and satisfying life. If you need some motivation, go listen to the catchy Natasha Bedingfield song; it gets me every time.

I do not have a magical formula to offer. I would never be so audacious as to act like a sage individual. All I’ve managed to do is stumble through countless instances in which I struggled to separate reason and emotion; knowing which to embrace was an entirely additional battle. As with many of life’s most profound dilemmas, serenity if achieved by everyone in a singular manner. All we can collectively do is amplify our awareness of all that boils below the surface of each of the thousands of daily choices, which are placed in our hands.

When you struggle to understand, "why", allow reason to guide you to a more sensible conclusion than you might initially arrive at. When you understand plenty, float in emotion and allow life’s mysteries to unfold, uninhibited, before you.