What Does It Mean To Get “Cold Feet” – Intuition or Wisdom?
What does it mean when you get “cold feet?” No, it’s not what your wife puts on your back when you get into bed. It’s anxiety, nerves, timidity, and fearfulness around a particular course of action.
Why do we get cold feet, whether it’s in relation to purchasing something, marrying someone, or committing to some area of our life?
A member of my family was recently under contract to purchase a home nearby. They were very excited throughout the entire transaction, but suddenly…right before closing they got “cold feet” – second thoughts. It’s happened to all of us at one point in time or another where we are inundated with emotion toward something we were previously smitten over. Why does it happen and what is it all about?
I liken it to the early stages of relationship.
During the dating process, we are enamored with each other – we cannot get enough of who we perceive the other person to be. Conceptually we know that both parties are projecting their own desires onto the other, but we wouldn’t want to miss out on what is often a most glorious and spectacular process – enjoying the rose-colored glasses for as long as they last.
The problem rears its head eventually as we all know far too well – we begin to see cracks in the silver lining. Suddenly we see scars where previously only beauty. We see struggle were previously only happiness. We start to see the other party not as areflection of perfection, but of humanness, of realty. We begin to see the other person for who they really are, for their strengths AND their struggles.
It’s not that the issues weren’t present beforehand, but we were unable or more accurately unwilling to give credence to them. Remember, it’s not just the world that changes, but we who change and adapt in reflection to the world around us. Read a book twice, and it’s not the words that have changed, but it’s us that has evolved in the process.
The REAL question – are your “cold feet” rational?
Are your cold feet a sign or an omen that you need to change course, or are you fearing the unknown, or perhaps the future? Is your intuition going into overdrive attempting to tell you something, or are you paralyzed, allowing your lower vibrations, your pettiness and insecurities to hijack your decision making process.
Remember, there is no wrong or right – only who we choose to be and the choices we make.
Be clear about what you are feeling and experiencing. The only advice I can give you is to take a breath, pause and reconnect with something that will allow you to ground and recenter yourself. If all else fails, just take a walk – and I promise…your life will still be there when you get back. As for my family member with cold feet – a nice walk and those feet warmed up beautifully.
Until next time, many blessings,
Seth
