I can usually give one piece of advice that will help on almost any occasion, LISTEN TO YOUR GUT!
Everyone has a deep inner voice. I believe it is a human gift. This inner voice, gut, intuition or whatever you like to call it is always there giving us advice. If we listen to it- that is! In a world full of chaos and busy is the normal lifestyle, it is hard to hear it. What works for me is to find a few minutes a day for quiet time. Well, I never find it, I have to make it. Schedule it in. Yes, that sounds dumb to schedule in peace, but I have to or my body shows me for days that I’m scattered. The best way I have found is to make time each evening when I get in the tub to try – even for 3 minutes to just sit and listen to my breath. This isn’t the time, though, when I’m listening to my gut- it’s the time I am listening to breathing or counting them. I get distracted so easily – every few seconds a thought appears and I have to remind myself to go back to listening to my breath. If I get 3 minutes in, it makes a difference.
Now I am ready to listen to my gut when it speaks at all times of the day. I believe people feel their gut differently. It takes a while to figure out how you hear it best. I usually hear words in my mind- not audible, but from deep inside. Sometimes I see a picture. Now there is the thought- is my brain just sending crazy thoughts? I have learned how I can (usually) tell the difference. My brain sends fear. It’s the brain’s job to keep us protected at all times so it usually sends me fear signals. I am trying to get fear out of my life, but it sneaks up on me. Many times the feeling or voice I get is a thought that is out of the ordinary, something I wouldn’t want to do, or something I haven’t ever thought about. It’s not usually fear-based.
Let me give you an example of one time that comes clearly to my mind of following my gut. This one is vivid because the results were quick- which is not always the case. Our family was going to St. George. Some of the kids were bringing friends, some weren’t. My daughter, Amy, asked if she could bring her friend. I told her I would think about it. The next day I went to yoga class like I usually did and at the end, I felt dark, and low and could feel my heart sink. I didn’t even know why or where that feeling was coming from. Then I thought of this girl’s dad. I wasn’t even thinking about the question if this girl could come with us. But there was an answer – an extremely bad feeling and a picture of her dad. It was very clear, but that was all I got. I told my daughter that her friend could not come with us. I had no idea why but told her that maybe it had something to do with her dad and it just didn’t feel right. The first thought I made up was that maybe she would get hurt in our pool and her Dad wouldn’t be easy to deal with? I had no idea why but it was so strong I knew she couldn’t come with us. My daughter was mad. Of course, she wanted her best friend to come with us and I said no because of a “feeling”. I think there were some words like “dumb mom and you never like my friends.” She stayed mad for a few days and off we went to St. George. Early the first morning Amy got a call from her friend that she wanted to bring. Her dad was killed last night in a traffic accident. Oh my gosh, I felt so bad but was glad she was not on a vacation with us, but with her family at home. Amy told me, “You were right mom, and it did have something to do with her Dad.” Let’s say it taught her a little bit about following your gut.
Another time I felt I should take a different route to work, so I did and you know what happened- absolutely nothing. I chalk it up to I never know what could have happened. I feel things often about people I should call, driving a certain way, checking on my kids, etc. I have learned over time to just do whatever the prompting says. If I call someone and it’s not a big deal then who cares- I got to talk to an old friend. Sometimes I have a thought such as call Becky. Nice thought but I’m driving. Then a few hours later, “Call Becky.” I will later. “The third time I hear that, “okay, okay!” I don’t listen all the time and sometimes I find out later that I really needed to! I’m trying to get better at doing what I’m guided to do.
I do believe that we all have our own angels guiding us. Maybe they are the ones whispering these things to us? I believe that prayer is usually answered by someone living. I believe if we listen to a thought, we may be a simple answer to someone’s prayer or something with our safety or solving a problem before it happens. No matter what the reason- following my gut has never lead me astray.
If you don’t believe me- listen to Oprah!
