FOLLOW YOUR GUT TO YOUR SOUL
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
WE OFTEN SEE THINGS IN HINDSIGHT
It wasn’t until recently that I could clearly see the one thing I did every step of the way on my journey to reconnecting to my soul-self and living a life that feels truly authentic…and that one thing is not what I’d thought it was all along. I thought my journey over the past 5 years was all about overcoming fear, and I’ve most definitely done that, but it was really about following my intuition, despite being afraid.
WHAT IS INTUITION
Some people call it living from your heart, but I call it living from your soul because your soul-self is the women you were born to be; it’s the authentic woman you were before everyone else told you who to be.
Your intuitive mind comes from using more than just your five senses. You know what I’m talking about, right? It’s those times that you just know something but you can’t really explain it. You know that you have to do something but you can’t really explain why. It’s sometimes called “knowing without knowing how” or a “gut feeling”.
WHY FOLLOW YOUR INTUITION
Because your intuition knows the way to your right life path and it never comes from a place of fear. I’m not saying that your intuition won’t lead you to do things that feel scary, but doing something BECAUSE you’re scared of the alternative and doing something that feels right DESPITE being scared are very different. In one, fear is controlling you and in the other it’s not.
Let’s say you’re at a crossroads in life. You recently moved to a new city that you love. You’ve interviewed for several jobs in your field and you’ve just been offered the perfect job; great company, salary and benefits. BUT you can’t bring yourself to accept the job because what you know you want to do is go to art school.
Rational Mind: Take the job offer! It’s stable, pays well, has good benefits and it’s something you know you’re good at. But, each time you imagine yourself doing this job for the rest of your life, it feels like something dies inside of you. Your rational mind says take the job and do your painting on the side as a hobby because that’s the sensible thing to do. Your rationale mind says if you don’t take the job it’ll be a huge mistake because everyone will think you’re crazy and you’ll end up penniless and living on ramen noodles. Just because you’ve sold a few paintings doesn’t mean you’re good enough to make a living as an artist? Your rational mind says, “Don’t go to art school BECAUSE it’s scary, even though you know it’s what you want to do.”
Intuitive Mind: You know you want to go to art school. You haven’t stopped thinking about it since you picked up your first paint brush and sold several of your paintings. You dream about it at night and deep down you know it’s what you were meant to do. Going to art school is scary but it’s also very exciting. The thought of it makes you feel alive. When people ask why you want to take such a big risk, turn down a good paying job and live on your savings while you go to art school, you say “I just know it’s the right thing to do.” Your intuitive mind says, “Go to art school EVEN THOUGH it’s scary; you know it’s what you want to do.”
TRY THIS
Think back to a time in your life when you had a gut feeling that something was not right for you but you did it anyway; something that you were too scared to not do, even though it felt wrong to do it?
How did it make you feel to do it despite your gut feeling that it was wrong? How did it turn out?
Now think back to a time when you trusted your gut and did something even though you could’t really explain why you were doing it; something that was scary but felt right?
How did it make you feel to do something that felt right despite being afraid? How did it turn out?
FOLLOWING MY INTUITION
Five years ago I took a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Class (MBSR) despite the fact that I didn’t know how to meditate and I was scared. I knew I wanted to do it but couldn’t really explain why. I’d heard about it a few years earlier and it just kept coming to mind until I finally signed up.
Ever since that class I’ve done one thing after another that I knew I needed to do, without always being able to explain why and despite being scared EVERY single time. It was as though I was following the bread crumbs on a life path that I couldn’t always explain but that my gut told me was right.
Two years after taking that MBSR class, my kids were almost grown and I felt stuck in a life with no real purpose. I was at a point where I needed to create some financial security for myself but I didn’t want to simply get a job, I wanted to find my soul’s calling in life.
The sensible thing to do was to get training in a field with good job security, so I was guaranteed an income and a return on the investment of my training. I met with a career counselor and considered going back to college to get training in a field where I’d be assured a stable job with benefits after I graduated; a sure thing. It made sense to both my rational mind and those closest to me, but I knew deep down that’s not what I wanted.
What I really wanted to do was sign up for Martha Beck’s Wayfinder Life Coach Training. Why? What exactly is a life coach anyway? How could I make a living by starting my own business, and what about health insurance? I couldn’t give a good solid answer to any of the questions being thrown at me by both myself and those around me, but deep down I knew it was the right next step for me. So, I followed my intuition and signed up.
Was it scary? Hell yes! It was scary to make the decision but it was just as scary to tell other people I was doing it. I was a people pleaser who didn’t like to rock the boat and I was about to invest a lot of money in a training that I couldn’t really explain and with no guarantee that I’d be successful.
Learning to listen to, trust and follow your own intuition is one of the hardest things for a people pleaser because the only way you can survive as a people pleaser, and especially for long periods of time, is to stop listening to and following your own intuition.
Your intuition is your truth.
You can’t follow your own truth and also always do what everyone else wants you to do. It’s simply not possible. As a people pleaser, I decided somewhere along the way that “their” truth was more important than my truth, and that required me to stop listening to mine.
Each time I chose to follow my intuition, despite my fear, I gained the courage to do it again and I began to see that my intuition ALWAYS knows the right next step and it’s the only way back to my soul-self.
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO START FOLLOWING YOUR INTUITION
