Common Sense: Follow Your Heart To The Right Answer

We commonly refer to sense, senses, or sensation, in the context of sight, hearing, touch, etc. We also use the word sense in reference to intelligence or logic. The fact is that the ears, eyes, nose, skin, and mouth/tongue, are not senses - they are "antennae," or receptors, that pick up specific types of energy or vibration. Sensing is a function of the brain and nervous system - the perception and processing of the information detected by the so-called "sense organs." Sense, in other words, is "what you have in your head."

You can sense your environment in many ways. You can use your physical senses - the part of your brain that receives and processes information sent back from the "sense-organ-antennae/receptors" - and you can use other senses to pick-up on people's moods, or impending danger, and other future possibilities that aren't immediately available to your physical senses. We've all picked-up the telephone, for instance, and the person we were going to call was already on the line trying to call us. Unfortunately, it isn't always easy to make practical use out of those things we pick-up through our more "subtle" sensory abilities.

Those sensations we get that tell us to not get on a particular airplane, or not to get in the car with someone, or when something bad is about to happen, or when someone's mood has shifted, are often called "extra-sensory" perceptions because they cannot be perceived through the physical senses. Everyone has these abilities; though most do not have ready, easy access to them, or reliable command, or control, over them - and most people simply don't practice with the determination we, as babies, practiced seeing and speaking and walking, for instance. Thus, people remain largely uninformed and frightened by some of their most natural and most powerful abilities - and unable to control or utilize them.

The bottom line is that not everyone has perfect eyesight, or hearing; physical senses are not common to everyone. But our "extra-sensory" abilities are not attached to the highly-variable physical state of the human body; they are functions of mind - and we all have access to that. Likewise, we all have access to the wisdom of the heart - that heartfelt "sense" that we are doing the "right" thing, or of what the right thing is. This information is available to everyone who chooses to access and use it; the subtle hint from our heart - and not the perception and thinking in the brain - is what is commonly referred to as "Common Sense."

The next time you say, "Darn! I knew I should have...," or "I knew it!" just ask yourself what part of you "knew" what was right, and what part of you "did" differently - and why these parts aren't communicating with each other better. And when you hear sayings like, "Think long, think wrong," or "Go with your FIRST instinct (or answer)," you can see how they are all referring to the same source of information - valuable information that is only available to our common sense. This information isn't subject to the perceptions and judgments we store in our brains (all of which can lie to us...) so it is much more reliable and accurate than information from our physical senses - even though it takes more faith to follow guidance that isn't immediately and physically identifiable with our five-senses. Believe it or not, the heart is smarter than the brain. It's up to you to learn how to listen to the wisdom of the heart and respond.

When someone tells you that, "You aren't using the good sense God gave you," or that, "You aren't using Common Sense," they are simply reminding you that you have more resources available to you than you are using at the time. Many call common sense, the "wisdom of the heart." Oftentimes, when we "use our heads," we are relying on prejudices and fear-based programming that doesn't allow us to consider certain possibilities that might be available to us if we were to use our heart rather than our head.

The heart has been shown to be a "thinking" organ - just like the brain. The brain is an electrical processor that controls our nervous system (and the rest of the body via nerve signals); and the heart also generates electrical signals and distributes information, oxygen, and nutrients, throughout the body - including to the brain. When we process thoughts, some people seem to "hear" the thoughts in their heads, while others may be more visual or kinesthetic, etc. But when we truly KNOW something, we know it in our hearts - deep in the center of our being. Think of all the references throughout history to "believing with all of your heart," or, "As you believe in your heart..." Trust yourself; and trust your heart to always know what to do.

The next time you have a question, or an important decision to make, try this: Relax; Close your eyes (do this part only if it is safe and practical to do so); Take a deeper-than-normal breath in through your nose and release it; Place your hand on your heart and take another deep breath while allowing the clutter, chaos, worry, or fear, in your mind to be blown away as you release your breath; and the Ask your question and calmly and quietly listen for the first answer. It may take a couple minutes to calm your nerves or emotions; but that is time well spent. People who pay big dollars for important decisions do not leave them to people who are in the habit of making emotionally-charged, snap-judgments. If the right answer is only a few breaths away from the wrong answer, take a few breaths. Remember, "Be still and know..." If you use your common sense, you'll never go wrong.