Last May my daughter was married. I was just sorting through a pile of papers beside my desk and found her wedding programme; on the back there is a quote by Lord Byron:
“There is no instinct like that of the heart.”
Which I have to say was very true for my daughter. She met her fiancé while travelling and then did something that was against our better judgement: she pulled out of the college she’d just enrolled in and packed her suitcase to go live with him in Hungary.
It’s crazy. We knew it then and I think she knew it too – but Catherine kept saying she felt sure, 100% sure, it was what she needed to do.
Anyhow. Fast forward to their marriage, and then my reading this quote on the back of their card.
It makes me wonder – how many of our life’s successes have sprung from instinct?
It was a gut feeling that first drew me to chiropractic. I was just a kid (okay, early twenties) flipping through the phonebook when I saw an advertisement for a chiropractic college in Toronto. And right then I knew it – I was going to be a chiropractor.
My wife, you might know her as Dr. Marcelle, says she knew we were going to be married the first time we met.
Can these things be true? Are we able to sense opportunity when it knocks?
Instinct or, maybe better, intuition doesn’t offer a safety net. There aren’t any second chances and, sometimes, the risks can outweigh the benefits – but a strong instinct, that heart-pulling sensation, is almost undeniable. And I think, personally, that listening to your little voice when it shouts is very important to getting the most out of life.
I suppose I’m suggesting you listen to yourself. Sense what type of reaction you’re experiencing before making a decision. Is there some quiet doubt, or a nervousness that you can’t shake? Is there a thrill running through you, or a compulsion to act?
It’s always good to bounce your ideas off someone you trust before running off the deep end . . . but just remember that you have the final say in the adventure of your life.
What sort of things have you been driven to through intuition? Would you say that many of your decisions are emotion-based, or are you someone who takes a meticulous approach and gathers information before making the final decision? Don’t you think there are some processes where you need to decide based on your own experiences and not just the facts?
I’d be really interested to hear your thoughts on this one. Please do share and let’s see what comes out.
Take Care,
Dr. Tony
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The Intention Experiment with Lynn McTaggert
The problem I find with following your intuition is that you will be ruled by fear, insecurity, low self-esteem, and the belief driven by intuition that an event can’t be positive. You don’t really know how a situation will turn out if you don’t try.
I found that when my intuitive inner voice first began, or perhaps it was when I first realized it was there, that I always had to check things out for myself. It took me many years to reach the point where I now know that I can trust it.
Excellent topic. Trusting the voice within. I guess no matter what, we can’t make a mistake because whatever we do is done and must be right. My mind can get hung up on things like making the right choice for the highest good. I’ve been teetering with what “I” think is a big decision, for the last year and still have not budged. Must mean that even though “I” have a hunch it’s still not the right time yet. I have friend who always says “A team of wild horses can’t hold back your good.”
So again, whatever happens happens exactly when it is supposed to, not a minute sooner. Sometimes in my life decisions are made fast and others slow. Either way, I believe the divine is always at work. I just need to imagine the magnificence of the creation of my body to know that there is a source a force that completely has my best interest covered. Some of what I thought were my worst mistakes, turned out to be my biggest blessings.
Keep the discussion going folks. i love this topic!
Dawn Ford
Finding and learning to trust my intuition is a gift I deeply appreciate. I’m amazed at how accurate my intuition is and how it makes my life flow more easily.
The more I follow my intuition, the more I feel connected to life, my surroundings, the people around me and the real ME!
Tony’s one-on-one sessions and the CDs he creates take me deeper to who I am, and I’m excited about what I find. My favourite CDs are “Rescue Your Inner Child”, “Trauma Freedom Technique” and “Extreme Empowerment”.
Trusting my intuition makes me live in the moment, makes me spontaneous and enhances my creativity. I can’t thank Tony enough for bringing me to where I am now.
So how does one tell the difference between the little voice which is your intuition and the little voice which is your subconscious? If you can’t tell the difference, then both intuition and subconscious sound the same.
The result is that when you ask yourself “Should I accept this invitation to a movie (or job offer, or whatever)?” and you seem to be getting a “no”, you have no idea if that “no” is your subconscious talking based on your conditioning and blocks, or your intuition trying to steer you in a better direction. So, do you accept the offer, in order to push through your blocks or decline the offer because that is the better course?
The key problem is distinguishing between intuition and subconscious. Suggestions?
Hey Mark, it sound like you are asking is “is it my fears that I am hearing, or my intuition that is trying to guide me”?
Intuition is a knowing, described as a knowing without any logical thinking process. I have found that in the past, when I had two choices, and didn’t know which one to do I would flip a coin. If I didn’t like the outcome I would flip the coin again and again until I got the outcome that I wanted. Somehow, deep down, I wasn’t “right” with the first outcome and I knew it.
So if you have some choices, and you have your gut pulling you two different ways, try to apply logic and analyze why you are feeling the way you are. Perhaps this will help you decide if it is your fears or your intuition talking.
Hi Mark,
Tony makes a good point about analyzing what you are feeling. As you know, we have many available tools to do this. I particulary like Marcelle’s “Look in the Mirror – Ask Many Whys” technique to help me figure out what’s holding me back. The technique quickly harnesses the subconscious, but later, I can look at the answers to the ‘why’ questions and determine what my fear is – whether it’s irrational or justified, and what steps to take.
Dawn also makes a good point which captures my philosophy on decision making:
“Don’t regret the decision you made since it was based on the information that you had at the time. Treat it as a learning experience.”
Like Dawn, I have found that what may appear to be a decision with negative consequences often leads to new opportunities we could not have imagined.
I’m bookmarking this page.