The Mountain Is You

INSTINCT AND FEAR CAN FEEL SIMILAR 
To trust your gut is not to treat it as an oracle. 
This is when the concept becomes so problematic. We 
are not only believing random feelings blindly, but also 
applying future meaning to them, assuming that ev-
erything we feel is actually warning us or showing us 
what’s ahead.
Let’s unpack why and how this happens and how you can 
prevent it from ruining your life.
Feelings do not inform you of the right decision to make. 
Right decisions create the right feelings.
Your feelings are not intended to guide you throughout 
life; that is what your mind is for.
If you were to honestly follow your every impulse, you 
would be completely stuck, complacent, and possibly dead 

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THE MOUNTAIN IS YOU
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BRIANNA WIEST
or at the very least in severe trouble. You aren’t, because 
your brain is able to intervene and instruct you on how to 
make choices that reflect what you want to be experienc-
ing long-term.
You begin experiencing feelings of peace and joy in your 
life when you condition yourself to take repeated daily 
actions that facilitate clarity, calmness, healthfulness, and 
purposefulness, not the other way around.
If you want to master your life, you have to learn to orga-
nize your feelings. By becoming aware of them, you can 
trace them back to the thought process that prompted 
them, and from there you can decide whether or not the 
idea is an actual threat or concern, or a fabrication of your 
reptilian mind just trying to keep you alive.
Remember: Your brain was built for nature. Your body 
was designed to survive in the wild. You have an animal-
istic form trying to navigate a highly civilized, modern 
world. Forgive yourself for having these impulses, and at 
the same time, understand that your choices are ultimate-
ly yours. You can feel something and not act on it.