Lately, I’ve been obsessed with checking my gut. Literally.
I guess my obsession is understandable given that I just had my gall bladder removed. A surgery that my doctor assured me would be “a piece of cake.” Easy for him to say.
As I write this four days post “cake-ville”, still wearing my baggiest sweatpants and requiring two naps a day, all I can say is, “If this is a piece of cake, next time remind me to order ice cream instead.”
Alas, with little to do but fixate on my stomach’s various aches, gurgles and pains, I’ve been thinking about what marvelous machines our bodies are, even when they occasionally malfunction. And without a doubt, one of the coolest things about our bodies is the mind-body connection.
Our bodies reflect the challenges percolating in our brains. In our busy 24/7 lives, we sometimes don’t even know that we are stressed until we “feel it in our bones.” We worry — and our bodies react by tensing our muscles. We become excited by the prospect of new directions — and our bodies respond by flooding our system with adrenaline. We carefully avoid addressing issues that need our attention — and our bodies nudge us into action by forcing us awake in the middle of the night. Like a good watchdog, the warnings get louder and louder until complacency is no longer an option.
Sometimes our bodies combine with our brains to produce “magical” insights while we sleep. We labor over a decision, weigh all the pros and cons, talk it over with friends and still can’t decide what to do. But then after sleeping on it, we awake with crystal-clear certainty about our next steps and bound out of bed with an inexplicable confidence that we’re heading in the right direction.
Going forward, I hope I’ll recall what I learned this week and pay greater attention to my gut instincts. Facts are good, information is helpful, but intuition is priceless. Clearly not all decisions can or should be made on the facts alone. (A truth that can be hard for the rational, logical, fact-driven part of my body to accept).
So next time I’m struggling with analysis paralysis, I plan to take a break from the facts and quietly ask myself, “Does this feel right?”
A simple but powerful question that I know my gut will help to answer. I just hope I remember to slow down long enough to listen.