How do you know intuition from doubt?
Interesting question I think because it is one area where we can completely fall apart in our attempts to create the results we want. Example: You start out on a new venture, it is challenging and the possibilities are exciting. However a little way down the line you start to have doubts, you lose some interest maybe and then you start really wondering if you are doing the right thing or if you are heading for a seriously troublesome dead end. Do you get out now and change direction or do you tough it out because this may just be some resistance to you getting out of your comfort zone?
Tough call. Well sometimes it’s tough because it raises the question:
How can you tell your intuition from your doubt or fear?
Your intuition, your heart, your higher self or intelligence – whatever you want to call it (I’ll refer to it from now on as heart), it has mind of it’s own. It’s not a mind that thinks in reason or time, nor does it think in dialogue or logic, but it has a mind that is an extension of whatever it is we are a part of, collectively. The universal mind if you like.
This universal intelligence is what we are connected to via heart and it is heart that relays the signals from our deep subconscious to our conscious mind in order to steer us in the direction we need to go in order to reach our chosen goals. This may sound a bit washy to you, but this is pretty straightforward. I bet you have on occasion had a feeling that something was right or wrong about a particular situation and even though it may have been against seemingly obvious logic and reason at the time you acted on that feeling… and guess what? You turned out to be right.
This is intuition and it is always speaking to you. The fact that we are mostly asleep to it is the very reason that we find any talk of it as being a bit ‘out there’. So lets go back to that situation that you just felt was right or wrong, whatever it was and the decision you made based on that feeling turned out to be wrong. What is the difference. Is it just random, like everything else?
Well I don’t think so. The big difference is that the first scenario is a feeling, the second is a thought. Intuition is a feeling not a thought. The feeling leads to thought, which leads you to make a decision, but even then that can happen so quickly thought can be bypassed. If you suddenly saw a tiger leap out at you from behind a bush, you wouldn’t stop to think about what you need to do would you? Doubts and fears arising because you are feeling uncomfortable in the face of new challenges and those challenges are challenging your own self image especially are thoughts that eat away at you until you decide you cannot live with the discomfort any longer and back down, turn back or give up.
So now there is distinction between the two, namely feeling or thought, how do we tell which is which?
There is a line in the Matrix movie by the character called the Oracle (She’s my favorite). "nobody can tell you you’re in love. You just know it balls to bones" I love that quote because it sums up intuition perfectly. If you have to think about whether you love someone then it’s not true love. Love is not a thought, it is a feeling because Love is the energy that gives us life and despite the power of thoughts as we’re always being told these days; thoughts are no match for feelings – Ever.
If you want to become a master at tuning into intuition and being able to determine whether your heart is screaming at you to stop because it really is in your best interests or if you are simply creating thoughts that will try to draw you back within your current, self-imposed (ego-imposed) limits then you need to do some work.
Let me tell you though, this work is great, it’s fun, it’s challenging, sometimes uncomfortable, but it is what makes you feel ten times more alive than normal. It is what brings you ridiculously good opportunities that seem to fall out of the sky and how you meet the most outstanding people of your life – the people you are destined to meet if you would only be who you truly are. It’s about self awareness to the point of simply knowing how to be yourself instead of creating a self that you think people want to see.
Self awareness is what it is all about. I have gained a huge amount of it (of course I can only make a comparison to how I was a few years ago) and for me the biggest change in my ability to hear or feel intuition much more robustly has been meditation. I’ve read great books, attended some super-intense programs, caught a glimpse of that total stillness and oneness that I just cannot find the words to describe adequately, but meditation is the nuts and bolts of self awareness and that is free!
You can pay for meditation CDs like I have because I definitely feel the need for the assistance they provide my easily distracted mind, but all you really need to meditate is a quiet, undisturbed spot and some discipline.
Take a look around this site and you might find something that points you in the direction that feels right for you. In fact I would dare suggest that just reading this article will help you become more attuned to your intuition, even if only for a little while, but that’s still progress.
You can even hop on over to my music website Boy at Heart and subscribe as a VIP member, which will enable you to receive my book and album "Mind over Matter Heart over Mind" for free. I call it The Radio Station for your Heart. You will find inspiring music that focuses mostly on the subject of following your heart, intuition and overcoming challenges.
It rocks too. Thanks for reading.
From Longing to Living:
Bill O'Leary
Derek Sivers
Maria Palma
