Welcome to Life Unedited,
The Power of Radical Acceptance,
28 Theories of Living in Reality.
This is a series of practical strategies to use in life through the lens of reality,
For changing obstacles into opportunities.
I'm Tiffany and this is Theory 6,
Gut Instinct.
Everything in the universe is made of energy,
Including our gut.
And everything in the universe reacts to energy,
Including our gut.
Consider animals.
When a tornado is forming,
Its energy radiates through the atmosphere.
If there are horses grazing miles away from that tornado's path,
They are going to feel that energy threat in their gut long before the tornado arrives.
Their bodies know what's happening before their brains do,
And whether they fight,
Take flight,
Or freeze,
They will immediately try to escape the threat as a matter of survival.
Humans also have this gut instinct guidance system.
However,
We,
Unlike other creatures,
Have minds,
Which can choose to override those instincts.
Unlike horses,
We can rationalize and talk ourselves out of listening to the truth of our bodies.
Think back to a time when someone asked you to do something,
And your first bodily response was,
No,
I don't want to do that.
But then your mind chimed in with some story about how you ought to,
You should,
Or that you owe some obligation,
And then you acted against your gut instinct.
Chances are,
In some way,
That choice cost you some peace,
Time,
Energy,
Or self-trust.
It may have even caused undue stress,
Discomfort,
Or hurt you in some way,
Whatever the case may be.
Gut instinct is not just preference.
It's the body's way of keeping us aligned with safety,
Truth,
And self-respect.
Our gut instinct exists for our survival,
Yet we often ignore it because we give too much power to our minds.
Here I must make an important distinction,
That our minds are not our brains.
Our brains are the organ in our head that controls our bodily functions.
Our minds are a more abstract concept where our thoughts are interspersed with our feelings,
Memories,
And our perceptions,
And stories around our instincts are created.
Our minds are master storytellers.
We buy into the stories our minds create about our initial instinct and go against our guts.
But here's the truth.
Every story that argues against our gut is,
At its core,
An argument against reality.
