There are times when a nagging feeling just won’t go away. Sometimes it’s about a situation that just doesn’t feel right. On paper it seems just fine, logically everything should be good, but there is this nagging feeling, this warning that is going off and won’t quite stop. Other times it’s about a person. What they say and how they act in the moment seems like they are one way, but what they do when you’re not around points to their being something else. That nagging feeling that you aren’t getting the whole story or are being sold a tall tale keeps coming up even though you can see that everything is fine. Sometimes it’s about what you want vs what you need. You want to get everything done today, there’s a load of stuff to go through, it all makes sense and makes your world go round, but there is a nagging need to do something that is not currently in the mix. Or you can’t stop something when you’d planned to even though the time allotted is gone and you’re supposed to be onto the next thing. This need just won’t let you go and it will nag and nag and nag.
We’ve all been there. It’s human. Well, it can be extreme and fall into a lot of categories, but let’s relegate falling to the “in love” section of life for the moment and keep things here in the human arena. 😉 So, what to do when there is a nag nagging you? Ignore/Wallow/Respond Many people ignore the nagging, with or without prejudice. They discount it as being a fickle thing, an over reaction, just plain silly, etc. Some people discount it as a failing, a misfire or misperception that needs to be punished or banished. Unfortunately this nagging feeling is usually your soul and emotions and body trying to get your attention because you’ve missed something crucial. All is not what it seems, the trajectory you’re on isn’t getting you where you want to be, you’ve misread the directions and are headed towards a cliff, etc. etc. Other people wallow in the feeling. They see it as a sign that they are tapped into something deeper than the reality most people see and wait to find out why they are receiving this information. Or they struggle to figure out why they are receiving this message as if it comes from somewhere other than them. The end result is a bit the same as with ignoring the message with the addition of seeing things come and hopefully being able to put the pieces together and make the logical connections. Or not. Some people live in constant wonderment that they were aware of the avalanche before it buried them without ever realizing they could have avoided the burying part of the process.
Then there is the choice to respond. It can seem counter intuitive. The logic brain many times doesn’t understand why there is nagging or what it all means. The interesting part is that the meaning isn’t really relevant in the moment and will appear later whether we respond or not. Yet responding to the nagging can help us avoid many negative, frustrating, damaging, or simply draining situations. In many cases we can’t know in the moment why the situation isn’t good for us, but come to find out later that the company was bankrupt, the party was about to be raided by the DEA, the organization was a front for a pornography ring, or you were being set up to be the fall guy for bad behavior because you were the newest hire. We may find out later that the person was hiding their true sexual needs for brutality or the opposite sex, were already married, were in need of money and looking forward to using all of yours, etc, etc. Even that nagging feeling that says you need to keep doing this or stop doing that can be about setting you up to meet someone you need to meet or achieving something because a deadline has shifted without you being notified or simply your soul trying to get you to adjust your values because they are out of balance.
That nagging voice is rarely wrong and, for as quiet at is often is, has so much wisdom packed into it we only need a little bit to make huge leaps forward in life. Has something been nagging you lately?