I think the theme of this year has been learning how to trust my intuition in a concrete way. I’ve always been intuitive (I am an INFJ, after all), but this year has been particularly full of opportunities to listen to the still, quiet voice in my heart and actually do what it says. It’s also been a pretty big wake-up call about how often I try to “paddle upstream” against the current because of what I think I “should” do.
Whether it’s the clients I’m choosing to work with, the food I’m choosing to eat, the events I’m choosing to attend or the friends I’m choosing to have in my life, this year has shown me that it’s actually possible to listen to my intuition and by doing what it tells me, to end up in a better situation. Not just possible, but crucial. Not just a better situation, but an incredible one.
This whole interview was so fascinating and interesting, but the piece that stuck with me most was this:
“I often receive messages, as we all do. You receive the intuitive hit, and then whether it’s the instant later or not so long after, or the next week or month, the doubt creeps in. And then you start to analyze and prevaricate and procrastinate around what you already know, what your soul has told you. So I’m trying to get a bit more elegant with allowing myself to receive the soul hit and then just commit to it wholeheartedly.“
It’s the resistance to the message that trips us up. It’s the fears around scarcity and lack and pain that stop us from following that inner guidance. It’s the doubt, and the questioning, and the concern: Am I really okay? Do I have to hedge my bets?
Part of me wants to say: of course you have to hedge your bets, at least a little. But the other part of me says, you can do it if it makes you feel better, but it’s a little silly. It’s probably not necessary. You’re really okay. I promise.
Within the last year, I was also introduced, via Jess Lively, to Abraham Hicks and the Law of Attraction (the real one, not The Secret one). I am particularly drawn recently towards the idea of going with what flows instead of trying to force an outcome. In this episode, she talks about “the river” of life, and how most of us are constantly trying to paddle upstream to the goals and outcomes that we think are “right” for us. But when we listen to that inner voice and do what comes easily and naturally, magic we could never have imagined comes into our lives, effortlessly.
There is no easy answer for learning how to trust your intuition. It’s a daily practice, and it’s (more than) a little scary.
A lot of it is about taking a deep breath and committing to the action that feels right but that you don’t quite understand. It’s about remembering that the universe is always working on our behalf but not always working on our timeline. It’s about getting grounded again and again and again in what’s really important to you instead of what the world tells you is important. It’s about not relying so much on your own power. It’s about, put simply, having faith.
What I can tell you though is that it gets easier. Each time I trust that voice inside (less woo than it may sound) and notice the good things that come into my life as a result, I have the confidence to try again.
Today I was feeling weird, so I went for a walk in the gloomy weather because it felt like what I needed. About halfway through, the sun poured through the clouds and lit up the sky, and I saw a rainbow that felt like it was just for me, since I was the only one on the beach. It felt like a private sign from the universe: You’re doing okay. You’re doing it right. I later talked to my mom on the phone, who told me that she’d seen a big rainbow at around the same time. On a day when I was feeling strangely homesick for my mom, we both got to see the same rainbow at the same time. When things like that happen, how can I doubt?
