Why are the most important things important?

Do you ever get started on a project and wonder why you’re doing what you’re doing? You have this feeling in your gut that tells you something is worthwhile. Even if it isn’t worthwhile in the end the gut steers us in directions for reasons and it begs to questioned. Why do we follow it? What is that gut feeling trying to tell us. And ultimately, why not follow it into the depths of hell and back.

Our gut is sort of like our moral compass. It knows instinctively what is right and wrong and it automatically chooses based on some sort of algorithm that is programmed from our core values and beliefs. We may or may not know what those beliefs and values are but our brain and our gut (more importantly our soul) know. If this is the case then why wouldn’t we ever not trust our gut? Our monkey mind, bird brain, congnitive self. The conscious thoughts we have are there to question what our unconscious tells us. The amigdala and other parts throw fear and uncertainty into the pot to create a stew of doubt. Not only can this fear and doubt stifle us from the beginning but it can hamper us along the path as well. So just because you “go off your gut” doesn’t meant you are out of the forest. Not even close.

Along the way, once you’ve chose to follow the smarter of the shoulder pigeons (those entities of good and evil that tell you what to do… Also related to gut feelings) what happens next? Let me give you an example. 

I decide one day to rescue and animal from a shelter. I find an amazing cat and decide she is the one. I think I saw her twice. It was a timing decision as well as a gut decision. I wouldn’t call it pressure sales but similar. In cases like that you have to think quickly and you have to trust your instincts. Now we may say our instincts can lead us wrong… I beg to differ. I think your instincts can lead you right based off of your morals and core beliefs. If you question those morals and core beliefs then things could go wrong and internal conflict will happen. So back to the cat, Eden. The perfect name, the fervent but calm demeanor, the perfect color and pattern (silver Bengal). What could go wrong? The thing about animals from a shelter they are usually a crap shoot. No matter how loving they seem there are things under the surface that you can’t possibly understand without knowing the background. This particular cat was a first time show winner, bred a few times in a habitat full of cats with little personal space and even less one-on-one human interaction. She is an amazing cat with amazing qualities but she has some hidden demons(don’t we all). I spent the better part of a couple months doing everything I thought was right but not able to get her to fully come out of her shell. I was ready to give up thinking that she was just not happy. Truth is she wasn’t happy but there are ways to help bring her back to some kind of normalcy. Then the night before I was intending on bringing her back she decides to come out and spend time with me and show me affection like never before. What do you say to that? A sign from God maybe? Long story even longer I end up not bringing her back but being reinvigorated to try even harder. We are now on the third inning. But I’m not giving up on her. She deserves the best and she will eventually have it once she lets down her guard and trusts people again.

The thing is we give up. And sometimes we give up right on the cusp of things changing for the better. We put tons of effort into something only to give up before it has time to blossom. That’s where this gut feeling comes full circle. If your gut told you it was the right decision… And you continue to believe it is the right decision and trust your gut then eventually, it may take months or years sometimes, it will come to fruition. Your gut feeling is great but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. You must have faith that your gut know what is best. And by having faith in your gut means you have faith in yourself. And that, is the most important thing of all. Elon musk started these companies, you may have heard of some of them and they were a result of him trusting his gut against all conventional wisdom. Are they booming companies now?? Yep. Were they all on the brink of failure and as a result left Elon to spend every last dollar he has to keep them afloat? Yes indeed. It took years and plenty of failure before SpaceX Tesla and SolarCity became what they are today. So you have to believe in you and be your own biggest fan. Sometimes, a lot of times, no one else will.

May your decisions be wise, your work be hard, your failures be many, and your harvest bountiful!


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Dont forget to leave me something to chew on after you have gone back to your normal life.. and I stay here inside the matrix. ;-)