The other day I found myself reaching for a snack. Man, was I famished! But as I started biting into my Trader Joe’s food bar, I realized I wasn’t actually hungry. I was thirsty. I hadn’t had enough water that day and my body’s cues were not actually those of hunger but of feeling slightly dehydrated. Whoops. So I grabbed my water bottle and gulped down a few ounces. Ahhhhh, much better! And since this bar is already open…
It got me to thinking about emotions and how we can sometimes confuse them for something else. It’s important to remember how hard-wired we are to our caveman days and the fear of the giant, attacking bear … versus the fear of having that difficult conversation with your co-worker. Sometime it feels the same and are body defaults into fight, flight or freeze.
I noticed this in myself not long ago when I was preparing to have an uncomfortable conversation. My stomach started churning, my breath became shallow, all those nervous ticks kicked in. Not fun. So I stopped. Took a few deep breaths and really investigated what I was feeling. Yes, I was nervous. Yes, I was in fear. But when I really dug deep, I realized that I was afraid of not being in control. Not controlling the conversation, not controlling how the other person would react or respond. And I just had to let. that. sh*t. go. Because that was the last thing I should be holding onto.
So I did. For the most part. (Let’s be honest here…LOL)
It opened up more space to breathe and be present and not wound up into a tight ball of nerves. And in the end it didn’t go as planned. It didn’t actually go. The time for the conversation was not right so it didn’t even happen and I got all worked up over nothing. Ugh.
So the next time you find yourself reacting and feeling a particular way, pause. Breathe. Feel into what you are actuallyfeeling, not what is manifesting on the surface. Because you might not actually be hungry…just thirsty.
Do what makes you happy.