My husband Mark and I went to the summer solstice party at the Cleveland Museum of Art. It was so cool to see the museum transform into this vibrant space for all kinds of different people to come together – connected through art and music.
It didn’t matter who you were or where you were from. Nobody cared what you believe about the world or politics. It was a space – open for everyone to enjoy – such a cool thing to witness.
As our night came to an end (at 10:30 pm, yep, I’m rolling my eyes, too) we had a few food and drink tickets left. Our plan was to load up on the delicious (and not even remotely healthy) oatmeal cream pies BUT the line was insane and I don’t love cream pies that much.
We walked to where they were selling the tickets in hopes of returning them. Not an option. So we asked a guy in line if he’d buy our extra tickets. He did. We appreciated it. Done, right?
But, the second we went our separate ways, I knew I need to give him his money back. It just didn’t feel right.
We had already spent the money – it was gone. Getting it back just felt off.
So I took my hubby on a wild goose chase to find the guy (among a sea of hundreds) so I could give him back his $20. Sometimes, in my mind I think I want things to go a certain way, but then when I do it – it doesn’t feel right and I have to find the thing that actually does feel right.
In this case, it was giving the guy back his $20. I don’t know why that felt like the right thing, it just did. And I know myself well enough now that I prioritize how I feel over what I think.
How you feel is your intuition, and I bet you’ve gotten really good at ignoring it. Every day well meaning phrases like be polite, give people a chance, you’re fine, think things through, don’t be selfish and you’re too sensitive have taught you to think more than feel and to focus on others more than yourself.
All these phrases take you away from what you innately know is best, or right for YOU. My intuition’s led me into all kinds of awkward moments of doing one thing and then doing something different. But in the end, I feel best when I do what feels best.
Give it a try. When something doesn’t feel quite right for you, change it up until you find what does. People might look at you like you’re a 3-eyed green monster (this guy totally did) but whatever – he got 3 drinks on me (you’re welcome!) and ultimately, I did what felt right to me.
As you know from reading my book Happiness Happens (click here to grabs yours now if you haven’t yet) – you’ll be happiest when who you are and what you want are in line with how you live.
It takes practice, just like it did when you learned how to ride that fancy pink bike with a banana seat. And just like when you rode that bad ass bike all by yourself for the first time, acting in alignment with who you are will give you the same wind in your hair and big smile on your face kinda feeling.
Give it a try and let me know how it goes! Leave a comment on this post or feel free to post in the Healthy Happy People group on Facebook to get a conversation going! Not a member? Join here.
– Emily