I believe that we all have the ability to pick up on messages that come from outside of our five normal senses. I suppose it’s often referred to as the sixth sense, although I think that sixth sense takes on several forms. The form I’m talking about is intuition. That voice that we sometimes hear in our heads when we take the time to listen.
I’ve read several books on the topic of intuition. Most could be summed up in one word. Practice. It’s funny how practice is the answer to so many things. The power in most of the books I read came not from the instruction on how to improve intuition, but rather by examples and stories about people that have used their intuition. So in that same vein, I’m going to give a few examples of how I’ve used intuition in my own life.
First though, I do want to give a little instruction on intuition. It really is about practice. You must practice listening and feeling. Intuition rarely shouts out to you. It’s more often a gentle nudge or quiet whisper. These whispers take practice to hear. You have to listen throughout your day, and try to pick up on the little thoughts that pop into your head. It’s also helpful to recognize how things feel to you throughout the day, and then try to recognize when something feels different.
The Feeling
My first example is from a recent experience. This was an intuition of feeling. My father asked to borrow my pickup truck and trailer to haul a load of asphalt for his driveway. He’s borrowed my truck and trailer before, so it wasn’t a big deal. This time, however, I couldn’t shake this feeling. Something didn’t feel right. But I really couldn’t place the feeling or identify the cause, so we made plans for him to pick it up on a Saturday afternoon about a week ago. Come Saturday, he checked the weather and saw that rain was in the forecast, and so he delayed his plans by a week. If you read my blog last week, you’ll remember that the fuel pump died on Monday. In retrospect, I can now identify that bad feeling. I now know that had he borrowed my truck as planned, he, my mother, my truck, and my trailer would have been stranded. Lucky for everyone that Mother Nature stepped in and filled the void that my intuition wasn’t able to piece together.
The Voice
My second example is the only time in my life when that inner voice shouted at me. It was quite an experience. My wife and I had been weighing the pros and cons of bringing a child into this world. We wanted to make a planned and informed decision. This is the biggest decision in life, and we wanted to be absolutely sure it was the right decision. We talked about the financial side, we talked about the emotional side, we talked about what we would give up, and what we would gain. We thought, pondered, researched, and discussed for weeks. Then one day, as I was driving to work with the radio off, and thinking to myself, I heard a voice loud and clear, “It’s for her.” With those words came a clear understanding. My wife was meant to have a child. It was part of the experience she was meant to have on this planet, during this lifetime. Looking back on it, that voice was right; my wife has been a wonderful mother, like she was meant to do it, like it was the missing part of her existence finally filled in. That’s one voice I’m so happy I listened to as bringing our daughter into this world has brought more joy than I ever imagined.
The Dream
One final type of voice or intuition that comes to us is through dreams. I feel this should be added now, although dreams could certainly have a topic of their own, the story of the voice has a counterpart story. After we decided to have a baby, the next decision was “when.” When should we commence the fun part. Actually, we commenced right away, the real questions was how long we would be commencing. This information actually came to me in a dream. In this dream I met a little girl. We flew together over the country side, much like Peter Pan and Wendy flew to Neverland. Then a date came to me in the dream. After waking, I knew that date was to be the date of my daughter’s birth. I also knew that we would be having a daughter. I’d love to say my dream was right on, but it wasn’t. I was 10 days off the date given in my dream, but I figure that’s close enough.
Do you have any intuition stories? I’d love to hear them in the comments section.
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I listen to my intuition all the time. For me it can come in various forms. I usually do not analyze it to must, just trust it. For example, the apartment I am currently living in came about by listening to my intuition. One summer day I was walking to my grandma’s house and I walked past a new apartment house being built and I instantly got that feeling “I’m going to live here” so now I’ve been living here for 2 years.
Intuition is simply being in tune with the force. Trust your instincts and use your lightsaber – yoda style.
Henri´s last blog ..Why You Shouldn’t Quit Your Job, Yet
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Eric Watermolen
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December 15th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
That’s a great intuition story. It’s so awesome to get that feeling, like you just know it’s meant to be, that this is the place you are meant to live. Thanks for sharing.
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Hey Eric,
I think intuition can be powerful tool to use. As long as it isn’t clogged by limiting beliefs. Sometimes, what some of our feelings tell us is the result of our beliefs rather than reality. But fortunately, if we dig deeper inside, we will also find those voices and feelings which are connected with reality.
Eduard
Ideas With A Kick´s last blog ..The key to become charismatic and what is CBT
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Eric Watermolen
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December 15th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
That’s a valid point. In order for intuition to work in it’s purest form, it must operate free from preconceived beliefs.
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Sometimes out intuition can get shouted down by our friends and family. And that’s when it’s best not to ask other people what they think but just to go with what you instinctively know.
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Eric Watermolen
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December 15th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Very true. It’s odd how powerful intuition is when we take the time to listen, but society as a whole doesn’t necessarily buy into the whole concept. It’s one of our most powerful decision making tools, and it’s often ignored or criticized.
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Good stuff, Eric. I got a tingle when I read about the voice you heard. Kind of reminded me of the voice in “Field of Dreams.” I’ve never had that particular experience before, but have had many brushes with intuition. Several have come when I made a decision to take a risk and leave jobs, and my intuition told me it would work out. In both cases, I received calls the next day, out of the blue, offering me jobs that I didn’t even know about.
Patty @ Why Not Start Now?´s last blog ..A Cat’s Wisdom
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Eric Watermolen
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December 16th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
This was the only time in my life I actually heard the voice, and it was rather like “Field of Dreams.” The voice was in my head, yet it wasn’t coming from me, it was coming from somewhere else.
Your experience with intuition is quite amazing. I can hardly imagine leaving a job without having something else lined up. Going with that feeling and then finding it was right on is so great. Good for you for listening to that intuition. Thanks for sharing.
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Hey Eric.
Good call here. My inner voice is a genius sometimes, and I sometimes miss out on its good stuff. It isn’t good to ignore it.
There are a few relevant examples here of listening to that inner voice. Sometimes we don’t trust it because we think it can’t be that correct, and is only a thought that we have, when in reality it is very accurate, and connects very closely with the thoughts of others.
To negate our inner voice is to negate ourselves.
One example of where I listened to it was what I talked about in my last post, regarding how I saw the person with the Twitter username ‘Armen’, and got the feeling that the opportunity was sitting there specifically for me, and it was right, and now I use that username.
Armen Shirvanian´s last blog ..You Don’t Know What Works Until You Fully Try
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Eric Watermolen
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December 16th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
That’s a great story Armen. You had a feeling about that Twitter name, went with that feeling, and it paid off for you. I love all these intuition stories. Thanks for sharing.
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It is not always easy to listen to our intuition or inner voice. Everytime I do not listen, I regret it.
I have also experienced someone else having intuition about a hiring decision. I did not listen and later regretted not listening. So do not rule out listening to someone else’s intuition.
Also, my husband’s intuition often manifists itself physically via a stomach ache when he is being told not to do something. He is the only one I have heard of that this happens to. Has anyone else experienced this type of intuition experience?
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I’m a big believer in following your intuition but I do believe that it’s a skill that needs to be honed. I went through a phase in my 20s when it seemed I went against everything my intuition told me and followed a path strictly based on logic. As a result, I was very unhappy, uninspired and had no sense of belonging. Thankfully, I was able to change all that by switching careers and paying attention more to the things that mattered most.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I’m really enjoying yours. I look forward to more in the coming year.
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Eric Watermolen
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December 21st, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Belinda, great job in turning things around. It’s really amazing that just listening to that voice and going with your feelings can make such a difference. We often follow the path that others expect us to follow, or that logic may dictate. As you discovered, that is rarely the best path. Thanks for sharing.
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