These past few months have been a turmoil of emotions. October started on a high with a family and friends vacation to Gulf Shores, AL gifted by Custom Sound Designs (CSD) in recognition for the tech work done during COVID lockdowns at church. The joy of the trip was quickly overshadowed by the untimely passing of our church’s Connection Pastor, Linda Jarrell, a dear friend and tireless supporter of so many. A week later, my mother-in-law fell and broke her shoulder in three places requiring a hospital stay with additional concerns about her long-term healing, ultimately leading to a level 1 trauma surgeon performing the required surgery and the subsequent rehabilitation process during recovery.  

In the middle of this, I was one of 350 teachers in the nation selected to attend a conference in Atlanta, GA and was honored with a NGPF distinguished educator award and also received a $1,000 Bright Ideas grant for my classroom.  Throughout all of these events, I have taught Civic Literacy during a contentious election cycle trying to provide my students with the opportunities to learn how to handle conflict in a healthy and productive way.

Suffice it to say, it has been an emotionally draining few months. This is where feelings and emotions tend to be the strongest voice and can seem to overshadow what I know and believe. A former pastor once counseled me that “feelings are neither right nor wrong, they just are” but said that it is how I choose to let those feelings impact my beliefs and actions that truly matter.  

As a Civic Literacy teacher I talk with my students about the order of why a court case is listed the way it is with the first name mentioned typically bringing some type of accusation (plaintiff) against, or “v.”, the second name (defendant).  As I look back on these past few months, it occurred to me that I am facing my own. mental court case of Feelings v. Beliefs, where I must be the judge in what outcome I am willing to accept and hold to be the ultimate truth.

Both feelings (emotions) and beliefs (knowledge) are doing their best to argue their case and provide evidence for why I should give them the victory, with each providing detailed reasons and considerations. However, ultimately the crucial witness testimony is that of thankfulness and the tremendous power it has to bridge the gap between the emotions of experiences and the knowledge that there are things I can be truly thankful for in spite of the turmoil.  

Last year, I wrote an article called Thankfulness is a Choice and I continue to realize that I must make a daily choice, even when my feelings constantly attempt to “sue” my beliefs and bring me back to my own mental courtroom. As families spend time together during the upcoming holiday seasons, my encouragement to all of us is to choose to allow the testimony of “thankfulness” to win the day in the case of Feelings v. Beliefs.

Dr. Travis Towne is a social studies teacher at the Lenoir County Early College High School in Kinston. He has taught for more than 17 years in a variety of settings, including junior high, high school and college. He has been married for 23 years and has three daughters (one adopted). He also works part-time as the Chief Livestream Engineer for Magic Mile Media and Neuse News. He is an Army veteran with service during Operation Iraqi Freedom and volunteers as a drummer and technical facilitator for Tanglewood Church of God. You can connect with Travis on Facebook at facebook.com/travis.towne.18 or on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/travis-towne-69106443.