More than a rumble.

(Approx. 2.30 minute read)

I’ve done lots of silly things in my life, probably more than most; it has led to an interesting life I suppose. A lot of what I have done has been spontaneous and ended in some kind of issue arising, being in various levels of issueness. From fully grabbing an electric fence when I was a kid, right through to some stuff that has put me in life threatening situations. If I were a cat I would have used up half of my lives by now. However, I could have avoided these situations if I had been listening.   

It’s there all the time, whispering to us, or sometimes quite obviously even shouting very loudly. It just does it in a nonverbal way. It tells us what to do in moments of indecision and moments when things just don’t feel right. But….do we listen? Ahhh, most of the time we don’t listen to what our tummy is telling us, we listen to the loudest voice in the room, our brain. Brain, “Grab the fence, just do it, it’ll make everybody laugh” Gut, “No, just no”. Brain, “Go for a swim at dusk in rough seas, and go in at the rip! Go on.” Gut, “STOP NOW.” 

There it goes again, the brain, telling us some kind of story that we are obliged to listen to. “You should do this, you need to say this, just ignore it” all those phrases and directions that pop into your head; whilst all the time your tummy is doing backflips and tying itself up in knots; almost bursting to tell you something, yet it can’t because you need to learn to listen to it properly. 

When my son was growing up I used the phrase “If it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn't right.” What I was basically saying was, trust your gut instinct, listen to what it has to say. If it does backflips and not for joy, think again. Listen to what those backflips, those butterflies, the sudden grip of the tummy means. Of course like all good parents, I normally didn’t follow my own wise words! 

Albert Einstein said “The only really valuable thing is intuition.” He knew a thing or two, both my brain and gut tell me that quote is a belter. 

Listening is not just about what comes into the ears, it is also what your gut instinct is telling you. Electric fence “No, just no.”