Connected with Gut Feelings

Connected? This question teases people all the time: Are we connected to each other? What the other side has taught me is that we are! In our experience of daily life, some people do feel these connections, while other people don’t. I’ve also referred to these connections as “gut feelings.”

I have always been tightly connect to one particularly person — my sister. From the earliest memories I have, I can remember feeling her pain, her joys, her losses, and so much more.

After doing readings all day, I felt very tired. One woman who had come to visit for a reading earlier that day was experiencing high levels of distress following the loss of her husband and daughter in a recent traffic accident. It was an emotional time for her and even long after she had left, I could still feel her emotional energy.

I had a number of early morning appointments so I went to bed early that night.  At 3:00 a.m. I woke up suddenly, gasping violently for air. The dream was so vivid, so real, and left me shaking and trembling.

My sister stood under a dim light which seemed to grow weaker and weaker. Her face was expressionless, and her arms hung limply at her sides. Like a ghost, she stood there, saying nothing, a vacant look staring straight ahead. Reaching to wrap her in my arms, I felt the pain through her chest.

I looked into her eyes as I asked, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

She didn’t answer, and the immediate sense of doom enveloped me. Awaking suddenly, this is the feeling that rattled me still, as I sat there recalling the dream, with a mad desire to call my sister. It being 2:00 a.m. in her time-zone, I couldn’t possibly disturb her over what might only be a bad dream. What could I do!?

My nervousness and movements woke my husband Brad, sensing that something was wrong. I told him I had a horrible feeling for my sister and told him of the dream. He listened intently, and when I had finished, agreed that it was too early to phone. Reassuring him I was okay, he managed to fall back asleep.  I, on the other hand, lay there thinking about my sister as I watched the clock tick-tock its slow route to 6:00 a.m. so I could phone her!

After Brad and I had our morning tea together, I picked up the phone and called. Not wanting to alarm her to anything, I let her ramble on about her week, telling me of her cooking ventures, and new recipes she planned to share with the volunteers at the local church. She is my older sister of 12 years, and is the most cheerful person I’ve ever met, with a voice that carries on melodically even as she speaks. She never fails to put a smile on people’s faces.

This morning, her stories seemed to go on forever, and I finally blurted, “Lin! I had a dream about you last night and woke up because of it.”

“Oh really? What time?” she asked, and I told her it was about 3:00 a.m., so 2:00 a.m. her time.

“Geez, that’s funny Jay. I was up at that time too. I couldn’t sleep; I had the worst heartburn.”

“Did you go to the hospital?” I asked. Lin didn’t, of course, not wanting to wake her husband up, and he hadn’t been feeling well either. Despite having taken something to remedy the heartburn, it was still bothering her a great deal.

“I don’t feel good about your heartburn, Lin,” I insisted. “Can you please do me a favour and go see your doctor? I’m concerned about your heart.”

She promised she would call him that day, and that she would call me to let me know the outcome.

The very next afternoon, I received a call from Lin’s husband. With tremendous concern and emotion, I remember the flood of him saying, “Jay, I don’t want to alarm you, but your sister went to see her doctor yesterday. After checking her, they had her transferred to the hospital which, thank-goodness, is just across the street! They then transferred her by air ambulance to a specialized hospital as she’s had a heart attack and is not out of hot water yet. I don’t know much more, but they’re running more tests. At least she’s in good hands. I’ll be in touch when I get word. The doctors are just thankful she got there in time. I don’t know what made her go, but I’m sure glad she did.”

We chatted a bit longer about everything and I thanked him for taking the time to call me with the news. He reassured me that she would call once she had rested as ordered by her cardiologist.

Could this have turned out differently had I not called my sister and told her about my dream, and my “gut feeling” that morning? I don’t know, but I do know that I’m glad that I trusted myself enough to express it the way that I felt it.

Know that we are all connected, and when you get that “gut feeling”, give yourself permission to trust yourself and what you feel. You’d be surprised what it could mean for you!

Cover Photo:  Woman by Geralt @ Pixabay