In the foremost description of the human, the Tanya, the Alter Rebbe describes the human brain as being under attack by the various impulses, drives, souls in the human.

 

Each desire that it should think, the thoughts that will fulfill its desire.

 

Yes our mind is like a computer with two (or more) kids fighting to use it (which explains why your thinking is so conflicted.)

 

But who gains control of your mind?

 

Well fundamentally speaking, emotions are what control our thinking – BTW a bomb just went off! – oh’ are you thinking about the bomb? that’s because you had an emotional reaction.

 

How about if I confirmed the fact that you will soon be getting a billion dollar deposit (when Moshiach comes) exciting! – again, emotions stir the thinking.

 

Now we all have in-potentia emotions and actual emotions.

 

In-potentia emotions (like anger can be evoked but are not necessarily present) so the emotion that controls our thinking are the evoked emotions.

 

Generally speaking they are the emotions of love – obviously this emotion also needs to be evoked hence the importance of early bonding etc..

 

Unfortunately though often people live in anxiety – all mental disturbance are based on fear and at least 20 percent have social anxiety – now this comes from having a negative experience, hence the brain is vigilant for it assumes (logically) that if you got bitten by a human before, the likelihood may be, you will get bitten again.

 

Once the emotion of fear, anxiety “war-readiness” kicks in, it will obviously have a deleterious effect on the emotion of love, for like different contradictory spices, say salt and sugar in the same soup, will counter each other and of-course depending on how much of each.

 

Then of-course we have addictions, certain stimuli that were pleasurable and as we are hardwired for pleasure, we then have a low (or high) level desire for this.

 

In the end of the day there is only one way to gain control of your computer – you have to reformat the harddrive – delete all previous emotions! (which may be easier said than done – certainly fear is pernicious hence the need to learn to trust in God and to follow the Baal Shem Tov’s advice “when you see the good in the bad, the bad will turn to good!”) and as Chassidus teaches, the only emotion worth having is to fulfill the Divine intent.