Day 191: My Brain Made a New Rule About Cows

Saturday is cow day.

Something in my mind has now connected that day to cows coming.

I saw a cow standing under a tree yesterday afternoon and my first thought was, "I have to get the fence done by Saturday."

My fence posts are going in today and I'm hoping the fence will be finished tomorrow.

Isn't that strange how little input our brains need after a unique experience to imprint something that has only happened once as a pattern?

Cow -> Saturday. New Rule: watch out for cows coming to visit in the middle of the night on Saturday.

That is just bizarre.

And yet there are many strange rules our brains make from almost no input, or any need for logic or clear thinking.

It happened. Now it's a rule.

These are the things we can notice, question, and correct if needed, early when we are paying attention to our emotional guidance system.

I felt a shift in my body when I saw the cow. Because my senses perked up, I noticed the thought, and responded with my own thought, "that's silly."

Not in a dismissive way. more of a clarification.

My body registered the cow as information.

My mind tried to turn it into a rule.

My awareness stepped in and said, "Wait a minute, let's look at this."

We can either notice these things in the moment, or 20 years from now wonder why we get a feeling of apprehension about cows on Saturday.

If we don't catch these thoughts in the moment, we may never know how certain odd responses, fears, or patterns begin.

We've been building awareness of our emotional state for months now, and this is one of the more ordinary but important ways our emotional frequency impacts our life.

The more I notice the change in my heart rate, the little thing that makes me gasp, or whether I take a more shallow or deeper breath, the more in touch I am with my emotional fluctuations in the moment.

This may sound like work or something that would be hard to notice.

But we never even question common expressions like:

My heart dropped

I had a sinking feeling

My gut told me

My stomach flip flopped

My head swirled

My knees went weak

My legs gave out

Those are all common ways we describe reading our emotional state through the body.

All of those tell you exactly where you are emotionally in any given moment, and even better, they pinpoint exactly what it was that created the shift.

That is useful information.

Not something to judge or override. Just take in the information.

Whatever you just noticed is real.

When we pay attention to these cues, we can course correct in real time, question our thoughts, see what threats are real and which are silly.

Personally, I like cows. I enjoy seeing them hanging around. I just don't want them trashing my yard or waking me up 4 times in the middle of the night.

Once I make that clarification, my brain can say, sorry we miscalculated your responses in the middle of the night and drew an invalid conclusion.

Case closed.

Think how much calmer our lives would be if we recognized those clear signals as they happened and addressed them in the moment.

We can because our emotions are already giving us the information.

We just have to give them enough respect and attention to listen.

Today's Gentle Practice

Notice one small physical response in your body today.

A tightness.

A sinking feeling.

A quickened breath.

A little gasp.

A softening.

Ask yourself:

What was I thinking or experiencing right before this shifted?

Don't judge the answer.

Just notice the connection.

Your body is always giving you information.

Today, give yourself a moment to listen.

With you,

Lynn