Most people will be able to accurately account for the thoughts that they were thinking that led up to a decision.

I was thinking about my relationship, that I was frustrated, I was thinking about my relationship, I was frustrated, I was thinking about my job, that I wasn't

fulfilled, that I wasn't being paid enough, where I was thinking about the roommate's situation

that I didn't feel appreciated and there was a level of

realizing that people weren't putting as much effort in, etc.

So people can almost always situate decisions and experiences within narratives of thoughts and ideas.

Let's frequently I'll hear a report of just the overall mood that people are in. Sometimes people will say, well I was distracted, I was

edgy, I was anxious, I was angry, And that's not terribly uncommon to hear, but by no means as frequent do I hear people's

moods being part of the picture they paint or of the awareness that they carry from a situation.

Even less frequently than the moods, then I'll hear reports of the body states of emotions,

which are, my stomach was tight with fear.

The base of my throat was contracted with a feeling of

powerlessness or my shoulders were agitated with, you know, feeling overwhelmed.

And then the least frequently of all do people report is the breath or just the

posture that they were in. I was breathing. My breath was shallow or deep. I was sitting upright or slouch.

I don't think I've ever heard somebody after they've had a major event in their life

lead off the story by, my breath was heavy and I was leaning forward.

It doesn't seem to.

I think we tend, in other words, fiercely identify with our thoughts as the primary motor and author of our decisions and our choices and who we are. In fact, we tend to identify with our thoughts.

We tend to point to our thoughts as that which motivates us, guides us, is, in fact, it's hard for us to even imagine that outside of our thoughts, there could be anything

that's deciding what we do.

In fact, many people think of logic and reason as what they aim for when they are making a decision.

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