I have a problem with giving into moods. These don't influence my judgements about what is important or what is right, but they can influence my actions, even as I know they are not beneficial to me in the long run.
I actually had a hard time giving weight to my emotions in decision-making though. I experience Feeling as rational, and the separation of the two was clear to me. Unlike Thinking, there is a greater need for Feeling & emotions to be in harmony, IMO. The inner turmoil caused by a disharmony is always present with a Fi-dom. Reconciling the two is something we may take a lot of time and energy to do. When they are out of sync, a great Bad Mood descends...
For me, these three are NOT the same:
Feeling - I experience this as rational, as it's a form of thinking (8 forms of it
). Before I learned MBTI/Jungian terminology, I would have called this thinking, forming lines of reasoning, rational analysis, and perhaps even a form of logic. I distinguish it as Feeling now because I see my core premise is always an unconditional human value; what is this worth, what does it mean - in relation to being a person? Nearly everything is personal then, not in an emotional way, but in a way that acknowledges the impact things have on people. And when something is not personal, then it, frankly, doesn't interest me much. This is how I know I am a Fi-dom.
Moods - These are very much the transient states mentioned in the OP. It's hard for me not to live in them. They affect my demeanor more than anything. They are often at odds with my feeling. They even get in the way of my clarifying my own emotions to myself, and finding something useful in my emotions; I have to work hard to distinguish them from my real emotion. These have become the enemy for me, and for years they tried to fool me into thinking my Feeling and real emotions were not to be trusted, that they were far too idealistic. I used to deal with them by isolating myself a lot, so as not to inflict myself on others when moody. I think that was a mistake; I allowed them to control me. Now I just kind of try to push through it, so that I can get to the bottom of things & find my real emotion.
Emotions - For me, these signify value, absence of it, violation of it, etc. This is my brain's way of saying - "pay attention to this area" or of supporting a valuation. I certainly consider emotions when making decisions, but they are not
all I consider. Understanding WHY I have a certain emotion is the hardest part. Once I am able to dissect it thoroughly, then rarely do I find an emotion is useless. I used to not listen to my emotions much at all, feeling that when they were at odds with my Feeling that I simply was not disciplined enough. I confused my moods with emotions & emotions with moods. I felt all the restrictions of being a Feeling type, but none of the benefits; I was GOOD, but not happy or warm. I made responsible choices, but I didn't fill my needs or anyone else's. I didn't wrong people, but I couldn't connect with them. I refined my Feeling judgements by allowing my emotions some validity. I took them into account, as significant data. It helped me to better see what I need, and in turn, what people in general need, and that there's no shame in NEED.