Love this post. I find that when I ignore my inner voice, my body starts nudging me as well. (Headaches, stomach aches, muscle tension all start showing up.) As much as I try to stifle the instincts telling me what I *should* do in favor of what (I think) other people want or the "easier" option, that inner voice is right about 99% of the time.
Yes, all of this! My mom has always reminded me that my body knows my brain before my brain knows it. When you work against your inner voice, my body always shows the signs.
Going through my divorce 25 years ago I had a strong instinct to reach out to my soon to be ex-husband's first wife. I ignored it at first but then wrote her a letter I eventually sent. We connected and helped each other heal. She is still a dear friend and thanks to her, my step kids (now grown) are still part of my life. Talk about a gift!
As someone who grew up in a dysfunctional home, I was taught my thoughts and feelings weren’t valuable. So unfortunately I never trusted anything going on inside my head - especially my intuition. Sometime after moving away from my family, while raising my four children alone, I learned that my intuition was the one thing I could trust. The first two times my daughter attempted suicide it was my intuition that alerted me something was wrong. I can’t explain it but I just knew something was wrong and in both instances, I found her just in time. Of course, having lost her after her third and final attempt, now I wonder where my intuition was that night and how could I just be sleeping soundly across the hallway from her. But thats not part of her peace and I’m working on not blaming myself for not saving her. I’m trying to focus on being grateful for the 20 years we had her.
I'm so sorry for your loss, Lana. Thank you for your courage in sharing your story and helping others who have family members with mental illness feel less alone.
Yessss!!! Thank you for writing about and sharing this!!! My intuition has overtly saved my life twice (and saved me from one at least one sexual assault).
The first time was an "inconvenient intuitive hit" to turn around and drive to a different restaurant 45 minutes in the other direction when we'd driven 30 minutes to get to the one we were about to arrive at. I was a teenager. My mom listened to my intuition and saved my life. The resturant (Chichi's) was mid-hepatitis A outbreak. I would have died with my underlying conditions we now know about.
#2: I got a gut feeling as soon as we arrived at a mall playground with my four year old twins that we had to leave. 20 minutes after we left there was a horrific shooting in the playground. It was hard leaving the playground when we’d told the kids they could play a long time, but thank goodness my husband and I heeded my intuition!
I was in an abusive relationship for 10 years through my 30s. This was before "me too" and anything about narcissism and emotional abuse was widely talked about. I remember struggling so hard during the last 4 years with why I couldn't make it work, why I couldn't change myself into the person that wouldn't set him off. I was so twisted and tangled, I hardly recognized myself. I also remember several lucid moments, usually around 3am, where this internal voice would come to me and say out of nowhere, "You have to leave him." It wouldn't say anything else because I don't think I was ready to hear it; it would just repeat that mantra over and over until I finally trusted in myself enough to trust the voice and leave for good.
believe intuition is an often ignored aspect of leadership. Intuition allows you to pivot quickly, recognize when to say no and read the room - among other things. In my personal life, I have started looking at Jungian method of interpreting the many symbols and dreams and what they mean for me
I quit a job listening to my intuition about a year ago. I ignored it for months and it only got stronger until I did. It hasn’t been easy since but I have a knowing it was the right thing to do. Love this post. Thanks for sharing
Love this post. I find that when I ignore my inner voice, my body starts nudging me as well. (Headaches, stomach aches, muscle tension all start showing up.) As much as I try to stifle the instincts telling me what I *should* do in favor of what (I think) other people want or the "easier" option, that inner voice is right about 99% of the time.
Yes, all of this! My mom has always reminded me that my body knows my brain before my brain knows it. When you work against your inner voice, my body always shows the signs.
Going through my divorce 25 years ago I had a strong instinct to reach out to my soon to be ex-husband's first wife. I ignored it at first but then wrote her a letter I eventually sent. We connected and helped each other heal. She is still a dear friend and thanks to her, my step kids (now grown) are still part of my life. Talk about a gift!
There's so much social conditioning against this. Infuriating.
As someone who grew up in a dysfunctional home, I was taught my thoughts and feelings weren’t valuable. So unfortunately I never trusted anything going on inside my head - especially my intuition. Sometime after moving away from my family, while raising my four children alone, I learned that my intuition was the one thing I could trust. The first two times my daughter attempted suicide it was my intuition that alerted me something was wrong. I can’t explain it but I just knew something was wrong and in both instances, I found her just in time. Of course, having lost her after her third and final attempt, now I wonder where my intuition was that night and how could I just be sleeping soundly across the hallway from her. But thats not part of her peace and I’m working on not blaming myself for not saving her. I’m trying to focus on being grateful for the 20 years we had her.
I'm so sorry for your loss, Lana. Thank you for your courage in sharing your story and helping others who have family members with mental illness feel less alone.
Yessss!!! Thank you for writing about and sharing this!!! My intuition has overtly saved my life twice (and saved me from one at least one sexual assault).
The first time was an "inconvenient intuitive hit" to turn around and drive to a different restaurant 45 minutes in the other direction when we'd driven 30 minutes to get to the one we were about to arrive at. I was a teenager. My mom listened to my intuition and saved my life. The resturant (Chichi's) was mid-hepatitis A outbreak. I would have died with my underlying conditions we now know about.
#2: I got a gut feeling as soon as we arrived at a mall playground with my four year old twins that we had to leave. 20 minutes after we left there was a horrific shooting in the playground. It was hard leaving the playground when we’d told the kids they could play a long time, but thank goodness my husband and I heeded my intuition!
INTUITION IS EVERYTHING!!!
I was in an abusive relationship for 10 years through my 30s. This was before "me too" and anything about narcissism and emotional abuse was widely talked about. I remember struggling so hard during the last 4 years with why I couldn't make it work, why I couldn't change myself into the person that wouldn't set him off. I was so twisted and tangled, I hardly recognized myself. I also remember several lucid moments, usually around 3am, where this internal voice would come to me and say out of nowhere, "You have to leave him." It wouldn't say anything else because I don't think I was ready to hear it; it would just repeat that mantra over and over until I finally trusted in myself enough to trust the voice and leave for good.
believe intuition is an often ignored aspect of leadership. Intuition allows you to pivot quickly, recognize when to say no and read the room - among other things. In my personal life, I have started looking at Jungian method of interpreting the many symbols and dreams and what they mean for me
I quit a job listening to my intuition about a year ago. I ignored it for months and it only got stronger until I did. It hasn’t been easy since but I have a knowing it was the right thing to do. Love this post. Thanks for sharing