We all know the sensation of listening to our gut instinct, but how often do we trust it? In my own experience, it's typically after something happened that went against my better judgement. I would then say, "I knew it! I totally knew that was going to happen. Why didn't I listen?" It wasn't always this way, though. I'm sure many of you can relate. Have you had these feelings, too? Or, perhaps you already have a healthy relationship with inner guidance. But, do you trust it to guide you? I mean really trust it? All the time. Are you a good listener? Or, have you pushed it to the back burner and relied more heavily on logic and intelligence to make decisions?
As the old saying goes--the longest journey you will ever make is from your head to your heart. As young children and even into the teenage years we have a keen sense of awareness. We can easily sense potentially troublesome situations. Meeting other children and adults, our inner antennae is on high alert. Signaling back to us whether this is someone or something we can trust. It's a highly sensitive system that works to safeguard us from danger.
So, what happens to us? Why the disconnect? Why would we over-ride this amazingly sensitive system?
Flowers grow stronger with the sun, proper soil and water. Easily and effortlessly. No one needs to tell them how to perform this natural miracle.
We can all remember times when we ignored our inner guidance. We might have been around friends that wanted to do something we didn't feel right about. Against our better judgement, we did it anyway. Our body giving us all types of signals. Temperature changes in our body. Tingling of the skin. Stomach tightening. Inner voice telling us to stop. Rapid changes in breathing. Mental images of foreshadowing.
Undoubtedly, later we look back at the signals and wonder why we didn't listen to ourselves. Often times the pull of our peer group can be incredibly strong and outweighs the inner guidance system. The pull of approval outside of ourselves begins subtly and feels heavier and heavier every year.
I've heard it said many times that the difference between knowledge and wisdom is this: knowledge is accumulated learning. Wisdom comes from experiential learning and cannot be learned solely through books. If at all. In my experience, wisdom is heightened through a strong sense of relying on intuition (or gut instinct.) Granted, this takes increasingly bigger steps of trust and faith. Especially as we move through the adult years.
Why is it so many of us feel we've lost this incredible gift of intuition? Have we become so dependent on outside sources for guidance that we literally can't tune into our own signals? Do we truly feel that looking to others and surfing just "one more website" is going to give us the Big Answers we are wanting?
Unchecked, we can slowly become distrusting of inner awareness. We opt instead to seek the answers outside of ourselves. The real irony is we do know what's best for us. But, it can be uncomfortable to begin trusting ourselves again when, for years, we've been socialized not to.
Think about it. From our earliest memories onward the focus has been on accumulated book knowledge, logic and intellect. Standardized testing and most schooling encourages and rewards this thinking. Don't get me wrong--intellect has its place. However, when the scales of balance tip further away from intuition, gut-instinct and inner guidance the results can be drastic. An emptiness. A loss of self.
What does this imbalance look like? Any number of ways such as: Distrust of your own decision making. Feeling like you need to be rescued. Feeling lost. Chronic people pleasing. Attitude of "No one gets me." Addictions becoming more prevalent such as workaholism. Alcoholism. Social media. Binge TV watching. Binge shopping. Over dependency to prescription pills. Food issues. Gambling. The list goes on and on...
What's the remedy? To gently and lovingly re-energize your intuition. Intuition is not a bad word or something to be embarrassed about. Let's bring our lives back into balance by embracing the wisdom we were born with. The big question to ask yourself is this: Who would I be if no one ever told me who I was supposed to be? I'm going to repeat this sentence one more time because this is paramount. Who would I be if no one ever told me who I was supposed to be?
"let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull
of what you really love" Rumi
Quan Yin, the female boddhisatva, reminds us that all we seek is within.
Interesting and intriguing question, right? The answer lies in allowing yourself to be an untethered force of light. Imagine being the happiest part of yourself that you can think of. How about the happiest person you know? What would you be doing if the sky was the limit? What did you dream about as a child? Maybe you've changed so much that you have completely different interests you would now like to pursue? What makes your heart sing? What do you feel you were put here on Earth to do? Maybe you have multiple talents that long to be brought forth. Perhaps you want to experience as much of life as possible as an adventurer. Whatever it is you really do know the answers. You don't need anyone to tell you who to be or what to do.
The wisdom lies within. You are the teacher you've been looking for.
The truly re-energized intuitive soul seeks balance. We joyously delight in life's adventures. We respectfully tread the path of walking our world's of inner space and outer space. We understand the power of tuning in equally to the frequencies of intellect and intuition.
Do you have the same curiosity and respect for these powerful stations? If not, I encourage you to allow the dynamic person you are to walk between the world's. Practice listening more frequently to your inner guidance. Start small. Slowly build your way back to trusting yourself. Re-plant the seed of having your own back. And who knows, you might enjoy the journey more than you ever thought possible....
Cheering for you,
Joanna
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