Secret Super Power
We say trust is the currency of relationships. That means just like money makes the world go around, trust makes relationships go around.
Trust is our most valuable relational resource.
But just like money, we must learn to use our trust responsibly. Living on relational credit, constantly overspending on the budget, making poor investments won’t get us where we want to be.
I want to share you with you a super power that I discovered we all have and we must tap into if we want to trust with integrity and wisdom.
Your body is one of the most untapped resources you have when it comes to sensing what is safe or unsafe, trustworthy or untrustworthy.
Did you know that your body (more particularly your vagus nerve) sends 9 messages to your brain for every 1 message your brain sends to your body! That means your body, through nerves, sensations, and feelings is knowing things.
One of my favorite quotes I heard Rich Plass say on this topic is that “our bodies are not just machines for doing, but a means of knowing.”
You are fearfully and wonderfully made! God has equipped each one of your bodies with incredible resources to signal to you when there is a threat (fear) or an injury (hurt). When there is a lack of connection or presence (lonely), when something has been lost (sadness). When things are well and safe (gladness and peace). Take a minute to consider how you experience these feelings in your body? What sensations do you experience when you feel sad or hurt or lonely?
I have sat with countless women in the throes of betrayal recovery who though they initially thought they were blindsided by the betrayal can look back and remember the signals their bodies and instincts gave them alerting them that something was not right. Those signals were diminished, quieted, rejected, sometimes full on gas lit… but they were there.
I like to think of our feelings and body sensations as the lights on our dashboard! They are pointing to us to needs that are not being met in one relationship or another. And it is our responsibility to see the signal and then take action to address the need. Now sometimes we choose to just put a smiley face sticker over the check engine light and that’s not going to go well for us eventually. We can’t know where or when but if we are continually avoiding or shutting down the indicators our bodies are giving us eventually we may break down on the interstate or find ourself in a crash.
I want you to know that you can trust the messages your body is giving you. They are not everything. There is the truth and facts, God’s word, the wise counsel of others, but the knowledge our body is giving us must take up it’s rightful place around the table of counsel and navigation of life.
After all my experience sitting with women, I would trust their instincts above almost anything else. And it is a very big tragedy to me when women become desensitized to one of their most adept God given resources.
Now, it is true that there are times when our bodies are not functioning as they were designed to for one reason or another. This could be a result of injury, unhealed trauma, medication, addiction, etc. That acknowledgement is important, but it doesn’t stop me from encouraging all of you to hone the skills and seek out how you can benefit from all your God-given resources!
You are a magical creature! Stay with curiosity and keep learning new things about yourself!
Just a few things I’ve been thinking about lately. ❤️
