LIFE IS A SERIES OF DECISIONS
We are the product of our decisions. If our lives were a fabric, each individual thread would represent a decision we made at some points in our past. Most of the decisions that we come across in our lives fall into three primary categories:
Category 1: Simple Decisions
Each day we are faced with small decisions, such as what to eat, how to dress, and which deodorant to buy. These are simple decisions that typically require momentary contemplation and carry little immediate consequence, but these seemingly small choices compile over the course of a lifetime, shaping our minds, bodies, and surrounding environments.
Category 2: Complex Decisions
Occasionally we face more difficult decisions, such as buying a house or starting a new career, which carry more opportunity for reward at the cost of higher risk. These are complex decisions that call for a deeper level of contemplation and collaboration with our friends, co-workers, and/or loved ones prior to execution.
Category 3: Intuitive Decisions
Once in a blue moon, we are faced with decisions that demand immediate and impulsive action (i.e. 911 emergency) or which simply take us beyond our realm of rational reasoning (i.e. love). When we’ve run our risk analysis, exhausted our “pros and cons” list, and still don’t know which path to take, we need to learn how to trust our gut and use our intuition.
HOW DOES INTUITION WORK?
Intuition: the ability to understand something immediately, without the need to conscious reasoning.That’s the definition, but it doesn’t quite explain how it works. Have you ever noticed how something just feels off, or when you strongly dislike a person as soon as they walk into a room? Sometimes we just know when a person, place, or thing is good or bad for us because of the energy that we feel.
Energy is our 6th sense. It’s not mysticism, it’s science. Here is the overly simplified explanation:
We are made of atoms which communicate with other atoms using electric fields (electrons). Your body is constantly emitting vibrations and frequencies (forms of energy), sending information, and communicating with every atomic particle around you. This is what mystics refer to as “aura,” which is, in fact, a very real thing. There is a reason we feel good or bad energy from other people, just like animals do. Notice how dogs bark at certain people carrying emotional charge or nervous energy and respond well with others who stay calm. Your intuition is your response to the information/energy that is being received by the atoms in your body from your surrounding environment.
“When something feels off, it is.”
Abraham Hicks
Intuition is also built on pattern recognition. Our brains are constantly identifying and processing patterns observed through years of experience. As we get older, we collect more information to be put toward our internal guiding instinct, allowing us to “default” to a response without much thought. For lack of a better means of explanation, it’s almost like a “copy/paste” template response to situations that we have previously experienced.
DEVELOPING INTUITION
Intuition is something that we all have, but to master it, we need to practice it. Here are five ways to do that:
- Meditate in Solitude: It is difficult to hear your inner voice when it is drowned out by stress, chaos, and other side effects of daily life. Find time to spend in solitude regularly and seize the opportunity to listen to your mind. Practice the art of self-awareness and focusing on the present moment to clear your mind so that you can hear your guiding voice.
- Have a Creative Outlet: Intuition is the catalyst that pushes us to pursue creative projects which may not make much sense in helping us find success in the “real world.” By having a creative outlet, you are exercising your instinctual ability to pursue something you believe in rather than just focusing on what society expects of you.
- Spend Time Around Animals: Animals have a keen sense of energy. We see phenomenons of charging elephants stopping in their tracks when they sense calm energy and no longer feel threatened, or certain people being able to cast a spell over dogs while others get barked at regularly. When we spend time around animals, we become more aware of the energy we are putting forth (intention) as well as the energy we are receiving (intuition) from the animal.
- Pay Attention to Dreams: Your subconscious mind is a nocturnal creature; it awakens when you dream at night. Pay attention to your dreams so that you can understand where your subconscious mind is pushing you to go.
- Live: Live your life. Make mistakes. Learn from them. This is how you build pattern recognition abilities.
IF IT FEELS RIGHT, GO AFTER IT
Whatever it is that you may be contemplating or stuck on, trust your gut. It may not make sense at the moment, but if it feels right, that is your intuition working in high gear. Some things don’t always make sense on paper nor might they garner the acceptance of others, but if you feel an emptiness without that certain thing, place, or person in your life, something inside of you is guiding you in that direction. Don’t be afraid to follow the light.
“Intuition is the whisper of the soul.”
Jiddu Krishnaurti