I feel, therefore I am alive...

In dutch the saying 'I think therefore I am' from Descartes translates to something like 'I think therefore I exist'.

Speaking with someone the other day about being stuck in your head while your stomach is trying to get your attention, I kinda blurted out: "It is not 'I think therefore I exist' - it is 'I feel therefore I am alive'!"

Not really sure if it would hold in a philosophical manner, but bear with me for a moment: we are living in a culture where our brain, knowledge, productivity, our diploma's, our skill levels - the whole cognitive side of living - gets so much attention. At least for me (being a male, a thinker and beta type of guy) it is so easy to get stuck into the cognitive part of life that it actually sometimes keeps me from the life I long for and pursue.

I  like the originally more eastern way of thinking: thinking from within, thinking from inside your belly. If you would ask a westerner where his heart his, he will point to the left upper side of his chest (well, most anyway - some will mistakenly take the right side 😉 ). If you ask eastern people where their heart is, they will put their hand on their belly.

My best days are the days I sit down quietly in the morning, and 'come to my senses'. Not as in 'get my head together', but get quiet and just be, feel my stomach again. And as a result of that I usually get my head together in the other sense as well.

Staying in touch with your belly so to speak will definitely help you think clearer thoughts. There's so much noise on the line, so much distraction, so much information non-stop crying for your attention, pushing it's way to take possession of your time and energy... I do not mean that in a negative way at all: I love the fact there is so much possibility, so much information, so easy to get access to friends.  
I remember the 5 to 10 pages letters I used to write every two weeks with a friend in a post internet time in space... 

Getting quiet and in touch with 'the you inside' will make such an automated extinction of thoughts not worth thinking that you will have room for some more brilliant thoughts.

I choose to think the brilliant ones over the massive information overloaded ones whenever I can get myself to it!

Feeling the autumn winds blow me a 40 inches to the right of the road while driving the motorcycle (which is a non-thinking activity for me mostly) just gives me that soft feeling of joy in my stomach. Call me childish, call me a softy... Thank you for the compliment! 😉

So - how are you doing? How are you feeling your belly today? Or just in your head like am so often? Whenever you meet me - feel free to pull me outside my head into the other part of life. Permission granted! That is if you don't use physical force of course 😉 

Have a great day!