Scaredy cats stay safe
Mad cats take a chance

Question: When is a happy person like an angry person? Answer: When it’s time to make choices.

Recent research from the University of California found that the two most critical emotions that affect decision-making ability were fear and anger.

People who reported often feeling fearful made choices to avoid risk. Conversely, angry people tended to make choices that entailed some sort of risk. 

That fear creates risk-aversion in decision making while anger can be galvanizing is no surprise. What surprised researchers was finding that people who considered themselves happy were also more willing to incur risks when choosing between alternatives.

But what decisions don’t involve some sort of gamble? Certainly when presented with choices that could have far-reaching consequences, debilitating fear is a bad thing. The cure for such paralysis, especially when stuck between Hobson’s rock and hard place, may be simply to get really miffed. Then, make like a running shoe and just frickin’ do it.