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I think therefore I am.
I feel therefore I am.
I grew up resonating with the first statement. It was important to think logically, carry out what I thought were responsible behaviors, get the best grades with my thinking mind because, obviously, you can’t feel your way to good grades. Everything I did, came from my belief that thinking was the way to success.
Some years later, I now see how thinking is so limiting. For example, if we try to think ourselves toward a goal, it may start off well but the plan we made with our thinking mind is misinformed as soon as we move on from the starting point. This is true because once we move along the path we can receive new information which informs a new perspective. So how we thought it was going to go prior may or may not be true of the current situation. We can simply think again and apply logic to the new situation but often logic does not lead us to what is in our highest good. Perhaps the best place to go isn’t one we could think of. I mean, we don’t know all the possibilities, right? So if we are not supposed to think up the route to solve a problem what are we supposed to do?
Feeling your way through is another approach. Assess how it feels to be where you are then imagine possible steps forward (dream—don’t just rely on what you think). Then check in to see how each one feels to you. What does your inner feeling tell you to do? Choose by feeling and then move and repeat the process as you evaluate each new current situation.
Does that mean that thinking is bad? Of course not. Thinking can get us so far but to fulfill our potential we need a balance between thinking and feeling. Many of us shut down or discounted our feeling side in childhood but feeling broadens our perspective and our power to move forward in innovative, meaningful ways.
Try this!
Next time you feel stuck in trying to make a decision between two options, imagine a trusted advisor appears and tells you the first option is no longer available. You MUST accept choice #2. Tune into your body and emotions. Notice how you feel about proceeding with that choice. Now, clear your mind. Imagine the trusted advisor tells you the other choice is off the table and you must accept choice #1. Tune in again and notice your body and emotions. You’ve done it! It’s that easy to feel your way along your path. Will you follow what your inner guidance has revealed to you? That is up to you but now you have more information to make the choice rather than relying on thinking alone.
