All day, every day, our “inner voice” chatters away at us in an internal monologue we have with ourselves. This “discussion” can be positive or negative, and it greatly impacts our lives in many ways we might not often think about.

On Thursday, May 5th, in Syria’s war-torn Homs province, beautiful music temporarily drowned out the echoes of bombs and gunshots. On a stage where Islamic State militants once murdered their victims and destroyed ancient artifacts, a Russian symphony orchestra played familiar classics. What prompted this brief interlude of peace and normalcy amid the ongoing terror?

Why would someone build a bridge to nowhere? Either they do not realize where they are headed, or they just are not the sharpest tool in the shed. The fact is, though, most of us have probably found ourselves building “bridges to nowhere” at one point or another—in other words, spending a lot of effort on something that will never take us to a useful destination. Chances are, most of us have, at one time or another, held onto grudges—which are effectively bridges to nowhere.

Emotions are part of how God beautifully designed us in His image. Like Him, we experience joy, sorrow, anger and love. Our emotions are purposeful, compelling us to action when something needs doing. Sometimes, feelings even intuitively indicate that something is not right before our mind notices.

Recent research on social media usage has “determined that the more time young adults use social media, the more likely they are to be depressed… exposure to social media can cause depression—which leads to more social media usage” (Forbes, April 30, 2016). Social media studied included Facebook, Google Plus, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Vine and LinkedIn.