Why Trusting Our Intuition, That Little Voice, Is Important

Universality

We all have it.

The moniker you choose may be different from mine. But it exists for everyone.

Intuition. Gut Feeling. Sixth Sense. Silent Whisper in the Ear. Guiding Compass. Little Voice. Uncomfortable Feeling. Hunch. Instinct. Inner Voice.

If only a nickel were pocketed for each person's utterance, mine included, "I wish I had followed my gut." Or "Drat, I should have listened to my instinct."

Practice Helps, But Isn't Perfect

It's taken me decades of adult to refine my own listening to that inner compass. Most times, I heed the gentle nudge. Often, the scream is too brutal to ignore.

Nevertheless, I occasionally misjudge and neglect to follow my soul's counsel.

Without fail--one hundred percent of the time--I regret the error of my ways. No exception.

If I'd paid attention to the warning sign instead of believing my ego--that rational mind--I'd have been far more delighted with the outcome.

Likewise, following my intuition has proven beneficial. The subconscious steering wheel has never veered me off course.

Not long ago, from a brief conversation with a woman, my gut spoke that she was a self-absorbed narcissist. Did I listen?

Nope.

Instead, I suffered through a miserable two-hour lunch as the one-person audience for Susie's Soliloquy about Susie and Susie's fabulous life.

Any interest exhibited in my life, travels, or experiences? Nope. Nary a question or feigned acknowledgment.

Any identified concerns about the world or philosophy not directly related to Susie's World? Nada.

From countless interactions, both personally and professionally, with accomplished narcissists over the years, I've learned a couple of tests. One is to interject an occasional innocuous personal comment into the conversation. It's a quick litmus test.

I tried that. Same non-reaction. Ignored with no interest whatsoever. More self-babbling.

Lesson learned--once again. Listen to my inner voice. It never fails me.

A subsequent text days later from Susie inquiring if I wanted to join her for a drink received a simple, "No, thank you."

All of us have this inner warning system. It's learning to take note. And, then follow its direction.

Validation

From Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "intuition". Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Dec. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/intuition. Accessed 30 December 2023.

No longer are "intuition" or a "sixth sense" marginalized or discounted by researchers and highly successful individuals.Intuition, in philosophy, the power of obtaining knowledge that cannot be acquired either by inference or observation, by reason or experience.

As such, intuition is thought of as an original, independent source of knowledge, since it is designed to account for just those kinds of knowledge that other sources do not provide.

Knowledge of necessary truths and of moral principles is sometimes explained in this way.

From Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuition about psychoanalyst Carl Jung's belief:

Jung defined intuition as "perception via the unconscious": using sense-perception only as a starting point, to bring forth ideas, images, possibilities, or ways out of a blocked situation, by a process that is mostly unconscious.

Gigerenzer, a director at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and author of the book Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious, claims that intuition is about instinctively understanding what is unimportant and to be discarded.

For hundreds of years, a gut feeling or instinct was dismissed by the scientific community. The rational mind of reason prevailed.

That bias has shifted. Many researchers now accept that intuition is the brain's method of taking shortcuts based on stored memories and knowledge.

Even Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, asserted in his biography that he believed intuition was more powerful than intellect. He maintained it had a big impact on his work.

Summary

As humans, none of us gets everything right all the time. We miss cues from our own internal voice or intuition. How about you? Do you cultivate and listen to your sixth sense? Do you trust your little voice?

Thanks so much for your time.

Victoria