How do you explain a feeling?

It’s always the first thing you experience in any situation. Good, bad or indifferent, sometimes the first thing you feel is difficult to put into words.

What if I told you there was a really good reason for this?

I use the phrase, attitudes, opinions and beliefs quite a bit in my writings. There is a reason why I always put attitudes first:

Attitudes are the feelings which have a corresponding opinion. If you feel “funny” about something you’re experiencing a form of communication which is defining your opinions without using the left brain analytical side of your mind. You are bypassing logic. Feelings are a much faster, virtually instantaneous reaction to a given situation. It’s important to note that what you are feeling does have a logical component, even though you don’t immediately recognize it.

It’s the complexity of feeling which causes you to not be able to readily explain, logically what your feelings represent.

Think of it this way:

If you pressed five notes on a piano you would hear a chord. If the five notes are in harmony with each other the sound would be pleasing to your ear. If the notes were not all in harmony you would hear a sound that would be discordant. The same applies to your feelings.

When a situation arises in your life that causes feelings you can’t readily explain, it means there are a number of opinions and beliefs you hold that are not in harmony with the situation you find yourself in. Rather than going through the analytical processing of these thoughts, which could take time, you are given a feeling which is telling you to be cautious about the decision you’re about to make.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: “Trust yourself”.

As you learn to trust yourself, your feelings will become a more accurate measure of what fits your truth than any analytical process possibly could… and much faster.

-Bob Baran