As a kid, my father would sometimes make fun of us telling us to turn on our brain. It was a clear signal that we had blurred out some idea that didn’t make sense to him. We hadn’t thought it through.

His image made sense. But it’s not complete. We’ve also got to turn our feelings on. We’ve got to be aware of ourselves.

Most of the time we do something we aren’t.

A lot of the thinking we do has nothing to do with thinking, it’s overthinking or ruminating. It’s continuously going back and forth or turning an idea around and around. It’s reacting to something that happened, and a feeling that pulls us into overthinking things.

It’s staying with a feeling that is pulling us into the past or the future. It’s not being able to let go. It’s time spent telling us a story and changing it around and around without reaching any sense of relief.

Being aware of ourselves is different. It’s being in the here and now. It’s being able to notice our feelings and our thoughts. And it’s leaving enough room for our emotions and senses when we are thinking.

Our ability to connect both leads into knowing. That’s when we know if something is right for us or not of if something is wrong for us or not.

That’s the moment when no other voice is trying to pull us away from that knowing.

The interesting point is, that this same mechanism also works when we doubt.

It helps us see what we tried to avoid knowing.

Most often it’s the moment we turn feelings or thoughts of, knowing being too daunting.