What is Intuition and How Does This Differ From Our “Gut Feel”?
By Maggie Chula
Every one of us was born with an intuition or an intuitive sense. The intuition in most of us is first understood as that gut feeling that keeps us safe. Warns us when we are with people we shouldn’t trust or if there is a reason to use caution when going someplace or doing something. Yet intuition also serves us in a greater way. Intuition is that nagging feeling you should be doing something else, somehow what you have just done isn’t finished, or the boss really wanted this instead of that. It also tells us (if we listen) don’t go down that street, I want to eat this but I will feel badly later, and many other cautionary items.
Intuition is also at work when you go to check on the oven when you are cooking or the water you set on the stove to boil and arrive right before the timer was about to go off, or the cookies were just right or the water started the slow boil process. Those were signals we received from our intuition. Have you ever been thinking about someone and they call or they are suddenly there in front of you?
Perhaps the most confusing part of intuition is how often it contradicts what we really want to do or have. That is when we usually don’t listen or acknowledge the guidance. I remember a couple of years ago I had a wonderful dog who helped me keep in shape because he needed to be walked regularly. So for his sake I did make the effort to walk daily. One morning, right after we had experienced a melting of some snow and then a freeze during the night, I started to put on my shoes to take my dog for a walk and I clearly heard in my head, “do not walk outside today”. But since Beemer wanted to walk and I wanted to get out of the house, I decided to just go for a shorter walk around my neighborhood. I rationalized I was acknowledging and honoring my guidance because I would take a shorter walk and not go my customary route. Yet the guidance was very clear, “do not walk outside today”. During my non walk, I meet a new neighbor and was talking to him when suddenly Beemer spotted a squirrel (imagine that) and took off quickly. I had not noticed I was standing on some clear black ice and when Beemer took off I went down hard and landed on my left wrist. I knew right away something was wrong. After I got up I did go home and let my husband know I was injured. My wrist had swollen up and was in considerable pain. What I learned from the doctor was I had fractured my wrist and torn the ligaments. So by not listening to my intuition I was in pain, in a cast and it took many months to heal properly and regain the strength in my wrist. What was the lesson? I heard my intuition. I acknowledged I heard my intuition. Yet I decided I wanted something else and so I thought I could change my walk and be okay. Remember though the guidance was “do not walk outside”. I should have listened to my intuition and taken the advice as given and not interpreted nor negotiated the boundaries or meaning of the guidance.
OM Times Magazine » syndicated
