I hear from clients, students and even friends that they know they are like this sometimes or tend to that a lot or need to work on such and so *deep sigh*. Then comes the fork in the conversation that can go in one of three ways: “but” – I’m not dealing with that right now, “???” – I don’t know what to do about it, “that’s just the way it is” refusing to be responsible and giving a reason why I don’t have to. What I usually get distracted by is the knowing part. How do they know? Is it gut knowing? Is it an intellectual thing? Or is it because they’ve been brainwashed into it over the years and from outside sources of various kinds. It’s like they’re reading the label sewn into their soul: do not iron, has difficulties with ___, do not bleach.
One of the things that the Year of the Goat is challenging us about is our knowing. Because emotions are a very potent type of knowing and one that is way more honest than our brains. Sometimes even more honest than our best friends. Our emotions know when something or someone is not right for us long before we actually catch on. If we listened to them we could keep ourselves from some pretty awkward situations or prevent ourselves from getting committed to a thing all together.
Because we’re out of touch with our own emotional knowing we can be pretty blind to a huge part of life. It’s kinda like having tunnel vision. We have no peripheral vision and can only see what is right in front of us unless we physically turn our head. So we count on other’s perspectives. We listen to their reports and try to navigate our world with this cobbled together vision of who we are and how things work. But what if the input we’re getting is wrong? What if what we’ve been told about ourselves and our actions isn’t the truth or even factual. What if it serves the purposes of those around us and not us? What if those comments aren’t in our best interest? What if we know about ourselves is Wrong?
Just because it’s been said a million times doesn’t make something true, about you or anything else. Check what you mean by “I know” and see if you really do know that or you’re just accepting what you’ve been told. Then trust yourself.
