I was raised to believe that emotions / "feelings" were something that happens to you (being human and all that) due to chemicals in your brain and body, and yo

I was raised to believe that emotions / "feelings" were something that happens to you (being human and all that) due to chemicals in your brain and body, and you cannot entirely control that aspect of things, but that your actions are indeed a thing you do have control over, and that falls entirely upon each individual human to control for themselves, despite any other factors such as emotion. While you may not easily be able to choose how you feel, you can choose what you do, and how you act or react. Emotion can as you say "guide", but cannot force your actions. That's all on you (or me, or anyone else). I especially agree with your final statement there about the dangers when in a position of responsibility or "power". It's those times when people really should strive harder than usual to fall back on logic and facts despite any emotional reactions they may be leaning toward, although if the emotion they're feeling is "empathy", they might want to let at least a little of that leak through and "guide" their logical response to some degree.