I was heading to the library when I heard on a favorite podcast the discussion about the order of  these three things:

  1. thoughts
  2. behaviors
  3. feelings

Oh the coincidence as I was returning a library book I had just finished that had this EXACT theme. The trio has different opinions based on the way they believed they lived. I noodled on this topic in the parking lot (where I do some of my best thinking, btw). What is the order for me? Is the order the same for everyone? These are the “thoughts” that filled my parking lot moment.

Could the order be thoughts happen then you have a feeling then you act(behavior) on those feelings? or

Behavior -> feelings -> thoughts? or

Feelings then thoughts then behavior? or…. What do you think?

Now in asking that question, I suppose you had a feeling (disgust or joy or confusion) and then had a thought (She’s so wrong! or oh yeah! or wtf?) then you did something (typed frantically in response or share with a friend or kept scrolling).

Oh, but wait.. aren’t thoughts a behavior? Such a great question. Perhaps it’s an involuntary and voluntary type, like blinking.

If any of those questions fascinate you (if so, we should be friends) then take a read of Whole Brain Living by Jill Bolte Taylor

I found this book to feed my curiosity about thinking and feeling patterns and the parts of the brain they reside. She gives practical examples how these 4 characters of the brain can support (or breakdown) how you feel, think and behave. Which we do all day, every day. And that, my friends, is what your dogs do from sun up to sun down.

So what is the order for you? Feel->Think->Behave? What is this order for your dog?

Here is an old-y but good-y video about Dr Bolte Taylor’s live experienced, My Stroke of Insight, Dec 1996

LT