I had an interesting experience this morning. Interesting not in what happened, but in how I reacted to it. Even now as I am writing this, a new insight has chilled me to the bone.

It’s a nice morning in Ohio so I was outside on the deck enjoying the morning sun, the sounds of nature, and my morning routine which includes black coffee with avocado oil, reading through the Daily Stoic and Meditations, and journaling. Deep in thought and ready to begin writing, I reached for my journal with my right hand only to find myself pushing and sliding the book back and forth trying to get a grip on it. 

With a sigh, I reached over and grabbed the book with my left hand saying outloud to myself “This is sooo frustrating!” It was then that the interesting reaction happened, and it is only as I write this that I fully understand what my body was trying to tell me. 

I was involved in an accident that severely injured my right hand, limiting what I can do including grabbing books off of tables. I’ve grown accustomed to the limitations. Today was different though. My reaction was more forceful, more frustrated. Not completely aware of why, I wrote in my journal “Feeling the frustration still… a moment of self-pity & then onwards.” 

Tomorrow around 2 AM marks the 27th anniversary of the accident that changed my life forever. My body knew this before my brain did. I didn’t put 2 and 2 together until I started to write this without a clear understanding of why I was doing so. The point? 

Your body is a marvel. It stores up memories just like your brain does, often triggering emotions and memories through the experience of certain sensations. My body reacted to the way I extended my hand toward the book, just like it was extended out the window of the car that fateful night. 

Learn to pay attention to your body’s memories. They can be early signals to an emotion you need to pay attention to to experience moving forward.