Got a nagging feeling? Best listen to it...


© Kelly L. Henderson
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'Feelings,' sighs the lyrics of a moldy old lounge tune, 'nothing more than feelings.' Yet, one of the best pieces of advice I heard last year had to do with feelings. That is, if you want to know if something is right for you, if you are trying to make a decision, move to a new city, make a major life change, consider your feelings.

How do the alternatives make you feel? Does one feel more right than the other? Does one choice make you feel queasy? Does another make you feel light at heart?

How do you feel about your job? Does your stomach churn with apprehension every morning? Do the weekends not come fast enough and end too soon? Do you get the Sunday evening blues? Or do you wake up every morning full of enthusiasm and looking forward to your work?

Are you trying to decide whether to move to another city? Do you feel nervous and afraid when you imagine yourself living in the new location or do you feel excited about the change and the new possibilities?

Often we dismiss our feelings because they are not concrete. They are not based on physical evidence or facts. If we feel anxious or nervous or apprehensive about a decision isn't that just because change naturally makes us feel out of sorts? And if we start basing our decisions on our feelings doesn't that prove we must be a little flaky?

Yet, we have all heard about people who have listened to their feelings. The woman who wakes up one morning feeling so unsettled she decides not to take a planned flight. The airplane later crashes killing all aboard. The man who, while sitting at his desk at work, gets a strong feeling that something is not right at home. He drives quickly home only to learn his child has just been struck by a car and seriously injured. "Something, I don't know what, told me to turn down that road," says the woman who encounters a car accident on a lonely country lane. She uses her cellular phone to summon help for the disoriented driver.

These people let their feelings guide their actions. They could just as easily have dismissed them and followed their planned schedules. And while these are dramatic examples, consider some everyday examples where feelings come into play:

At a job interview you get negative vibes from the interviewer. The job is later offered to you but you remember how uneasy you were during the interview. You decide not to take the job.

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Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: View all related messages

6.   Feb 13, 2002 5:41 AM
In response to message posted by jerrib:

Hi Jerri,
Thanks for reading. Of course, there are always many factors, big and sma ...

-- posted by klhwriter


5.   Feb 12, 2002 6:55 PM
but as a sandwich generation member it's really hard to do what you want to do when you have family to consider when you'd like to make a move.

Guess, as you said, need to trust those feelings. ...


-- posted by jerrib


4.   Feb 11, 2002 5:59 AM
In response to message posted by CrabApple:

Hi CrabApple,

Nice to hear from you! Yes, I agree that your feelings will alwa ...


-- posted by klhwriter


3.   Feb 11, 2002 5:53 AM
In response to message posted by Sunbear:

Hi Tom,

Thanks for your comments. Yes, I had the same experience. I pursued so ...


-- posted by klhwriter


2.   Feb 11, 2002 2:49 AM
In response to message posted by Sunbear:

Kelly,
Great article.

We should all listen to our feelings more often.
Somet ...


-- posted by CrabApple





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