The non-existent element
We feel bodily signals often. Sometimes they indicate a need: to get warmer or cooler; to eat; to rest. Sometimes we get signals that lead us to believe that something is different in our bodies and we need to have that checked out in case it is a physical illness or condition.
Often it is a psychological signal expressed through our body: tension in our jaws or in other muscles; an unsettled stomach; stuttering; a headache and many others. Of course one should rule out physical causes first. But many times we have checked with a physician and there is nothing wrong, it is repetitive and we have the feeling that it is related to something. We tend to call it with different names: “my anxiety”; “my symptom”.
Do something
Our attitudes towards these signals may vary from person to person and from time to time. We might tend to ignore them and sometimes they go away or they increase in strength and we have no alternative than to acknowledge them. At times we might get angry at the symptoms for showing up or at ourselves for having allowed them to come in and bother us.
Some people might have, often unknowingly, caring attitudes towards the symptoms: “giving food“ to the stomach to calm the acidity; “caressing” the tense muscle; “trying to reason” with the headache that “now it is not the best moment to show up”.
Listen to me
If we could take these symptoms at that level, that is, a warning, we could stop for a second and realize that it would be for our benefit to listen to them. The symptoms are signalling to us that we are entering a situation that we dislike. Sometimes we could change what we are doing but even when we cannot, there is a large difference between doing something that we do not like and doing something and trying to convince ourselves that it is ok, that we do like it.
One might find it difficult at times to listen to the message of some of our symptoms. This might be because listening to them would imply changes we do not want to face or because we might need to admit that we are in the wrong path and we do not want to accept that. It might even be frightening to think about getting rid of the symptoms and realizing that most of our decisions for the future depend on us.
