We’re taught to think things through logically, make a plan, implement the plan in a logical manner, and good things will result. You may even achieve your goal. Yay! But what if the goal is to know what is best for you? What if the goal is to know what you want? Those goals and logic sometimes don’t coincide, at least not the logic of the left brain. They don’t diagram easily into a PowerPoint slide or fit into a bullet point list. They don’t seem to form into a ToDo list that prioritizes itself. They can seem like shapes in a mist that we can’t quite see. Sometimes it feels like fishing with just your hands, the answers come but they wiggle and squirm and buck and then slip out again and are gone…
Here’s the thing. Your body knows the answers and understands the non-linear logic of what is going on. The problem is we’re taught to not listen to our bodies. We’re taught that they are machines that break down rather than an integral part of us which is trying desperately to get us to listen to our soul and to what actually matters. Thinking about Thanksgiving and at the same time getting a sick feeling and losing all energy so that you have to sit down? Hmmm….that’s probably not random. It’s very likely a body message. But you know you don’t want to go, you say to yourself. Stupid body. There’s no way out of it, however so we just have to make the best of it….STOP!!! Listening to your body’s wisdom means actually listening to it, not ignoring it or trying to make it say something it’s not. Your body has no reason to signal you about something you already know because that message has already been received. In this case your body is probably messaging you about the decision you’ve made. About that statement, the lie that you’re telling yourself, that you just have to go and make the best of it. Lie. Untruth. Illogic. You don’t actually have to go nor do you have to make the best of it nor do you have to suffer through it in silence. You have a plethora of options all of which your body would probably be more than happy to discuss with you, many of which would be in your best interest and be much better for you than what you’re planning.
One of the best gifts you can give yourself is validation. Validate your body/soul connection by actually listening to what they are trying to tell you. Validate yourself by acting on your truth, but making yourself the priority instead of the sacrificial lamb in the situation. Follow your own gut knowing and you will discover entire realms of joy and passion and life within you that are just waiting to get out. I really appreciate Martha Beck’s take on this and her book which outlines, with humor and common sense, how to implement this type of knowing and how to build a life out of it. Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live