Checking in before checking out

Do you know where in your body you experience your feelings?

We have loads of language and metaphor that address this -- we're heartbroken. We have gut feelings. Our stomach sinks. Traditional Chinese medicine assigns major emotions to major organs (such as grief to the lungs). And yet, on a daily basis, how much awareness do we have of the real placement/experience of our feelings?

When you're upset, does your throat close up? What about when you're afraid? Hurt? Confused? Happy? Certain?

Having an awareness of where you experience your feelings comes in handy when you're checking in about making changes. I'd bet that somewhere in your list are feelings of absolute connectedness and absolute dis-connectedness; if they aren't there, see if you can find them. See if you can place that knowing we have when we are in the right place at the right time (it feels a lot like love). See if you can place that knowing that something is just wrong--ever done that? Done something you KNEW was the wrong thing to do? Yeah, like that guy you went out with that one time (or twenty) because...well, because whatever, except you knew it was a bad idea, and you ignored it, and guess what? It was a bad idea.

Knowing something is wrong is a bit trickier than knowing it's right. I'm not talking about morals or ethics here, I'm talking about something that's just not the fit for your path. It's tricky because it can show up as fear, but, then, a lot of things can trigger our fear response. If you're having trouble getting out of your comfort zone and into your path, and fear is your response, you're going to have to check in with that a little harder.

The first question is: what am I afraid of? Obviously this ranges from "everyone will laugh at me" to "I'm going to fall and break my neck." If your dream since childhood is to walk a tightrope in a circus, for example. I'm not going to tell you what your decision should be for any of these--it's your path, and the world needs tightrope walkers just as much as it needs a cure for cancer (although for different reasons, I suppose).

Another question might be: "why do I want this?" Or "whose idea is this?" (that last is an incredibly important question. We live other people's ideas all the time.)

I hope you're starting this year digging into what you really want -- this is going to be the year to make it happen. But first, you're going to want to do something about those "no"s.