Feeling

It is so common to hear the question “how are you feeling” when you see a doctor.  We always come up with our pre-programmed responses of “great” or “well” or “doc, my back hurts.”  I find it rare that people think of the other meaning of the question.  I find it even rarer still that doctors ask the question to elicit the other meaning of the question.

 

How…are you feeling?

 

It is one thing to feel as in a symptom.  I feel great, I feel like crap.  It’s another to feel.  I mean this “feel” as in the way a driver gets the feel for a car.  Or an athlete gets a feel for the game.

 

Mothers…have you ever had that gut “feeling” that something just happened.  That recently happened to one of our own.  One night she couldn’t sleep and had a “feeling” that something had happened to her son.  Turns out her son went to the casino that night and the driver fell asleep at the wheel and flipped the car.  All involved were ok.  But that feeling never left until her son walked in the door and told here what happened. 

 

I do it all the time, I’m sure you do as well whether you know it or not.  I feel like there is something I have to do.  When I realize I forgot to pay the bills, I have that “ah-ha” moment and get it done.  Or, “where did I leave the car keys” and that little voice inside says “check your pants from last night”….Ohhhhh yeah!!!  I put them in my pocket after I came inside the house.  You got a feeling of where the keys are.

 

Have you ever been lost and found your way?  “I feel like I need to take a right onto this road” you may have said to yourself.  Then a left and a straight and soon you end up in familiar surroundings.  You had a feel for the road.

 

I have two places that I feel from, my gut and my heart.  When it is my gut, I tend to put up my guard and turn on the radar looking for something to happen.  When the feeling is in my heart, I know something good just happened or is about to.

 

There is no secret that physically we use our nerves to feel.  It is our nerve system that elicits the sensation of feel.  But our nerves are a physical entity, how do they know what is going on around us?  Don’t cadavers have nerves?  Do they feel?  Of course not, they are not ALIVE.  Rather, the “feeling” comes from our own innate and inner being.  It is our intuition regarding the world around us.  It is our connection to God where we are a receiving station being told “heads up,” for better or worse.  The closer that connection to the Lord, the more often you’ll feel out situations.

 

Just remember, we were designed with the ability to feel.  It is healthy for us to feel.  We can’t feel love without knowing what it is to feel pain.  We can’t feel laughter without feeling sadness.  They go together, Yin and Yang, pros and cons, Abbot and Costello. 

 

Likewise when we pay attention to our bodies we learn to truly feel.