"Something tells me...."

"I have this feeling..."

When someone says this to us, we instantly understand... because we've all experienced it. "It" is our intuition, our intuitive voice, that innate, instinctive knowledge that seems to come from deep within our core... our gut.

Last week, I promised more on the idea of tuning into your instinctive knowledge, hearing and using intuitive leadership as your guide. The first distinction helpful in this approach is that of the intellect vs. intuition. They both speak to us, often simultaneously, but in radically different languages, tones, and from radically different sources.

All living creatures have some form of intuition or instinctive knowledge. But the addition of our intellect (intelligence, egoic mind, mental body, highly-developed brain) is a distinguishing feature of being human. It is essential to development and progress in creating the world in which we thrive. Our intellect's job is to keep us moving forward and to keep us safe.  Seeking pleasure and avoidance of pain is the task at hand for the thinking brain.  Highly attuned to any kind of danger or threat, with a hair-pinned trigger on the "flight or fight" response, it carefully (and quickly) analyzes whether our current situation or the idea being considered is acceptable, wonderful, or potentially unsafe and communicates such to the body which waits, ever ready, for instructions to act accordingly. The intellect weighs the pros and cons of any situation or idea as it relates to the body's safety and perceived well-being with the goal always to minimize the risk. Our head fears there might not be enough, making the wrong decision, or what others will think.

On the other hand, our instincts (inner voice, higher power, intuition, sixth sense) emanates from a deeper, more primal source. Our intuition doesn't need to "weigh" or analyze anything... it simply "knows."  It doesn't need to determine which path will present the lowest level of risk, it just knows the right path to take. The fact that our mind cannot explain exactly where this voice comes from or how it works, causes us to doubt its validity and discount its effectiveness... unless you've learned how to hear it "on demand" and have grown to trust, from your own experience, the perfectness of its guidance.

I've been asked (and wondered many times, myself...), how do I know if it's my intellect or my intuition talking?  Next week, I'll suggest language to help you recognize and distinguish these two voices. In the meantime, take comfort in the idea that we are NEVER confused.  Not really. We may not have directly accessed this intuitive voice or (more probably) we may not like the answer it is giving us... but we are never truly confused.  We always have our answer.

Good to know.

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