Emotions are a symptom

One of my favorite quotes recently is "Emotions are a symptom, not a justification."

I know that's a little vague, so let me just go straight to an example. Tonight we are putting our daughter down for the night and she is learning how to drag things on. What should take 5-10 minutes takes 30.  In the middle of this I find myself so angry that we get stuck in this every night that I just have to sit there and say nothing for a few minutes. Whenever you are so mad you can't function, that's the first indication something is off. So in this case I'm obviously too upset about the situation, and that's when I remember this quote. So why am I really this upset?  If I am honest with myself, it's not because she's dragging things on, but because of my pride.

You see, apparently my pride is telling me my free time is more important than my wife's time or my child's desires. If I really think this, than I have more important things to fix than a bedtime routine.

You see, our emotions are a gauge for what is going on in our hearts, and not a justification to act in whatever way makes us feel good in the situation.  So when you feel emotions taking over logic, whether it's anger, sadness, jealously or something else; treat it as a symptom, not as a justification for your actions.

Hope that all made sense.