The Gift

I come from a long line of women who have what the Irish call "the gift". The ability to just "know" things. I remember staying with my grandparents in the country one summer when I was young, and watching my Irish grandmother baking bread and putting on a huge pot of stew one afternoon. When I asked why she was making so much food for just the three of us she said "Oh, I just have a feeling we'll be needing it by tonight." Sure enough, shortly before dusk a man knocked on the door. His car had broken down and he, his wife and five kids were stranded! My grandmother had listened to her intuition, trusted it, and that family was so grateful.

I believe we all have intuitive powers, (don't they say we only use a small percentage of our brain?) some people just have a heightened awareness. Women are usually better at paying attention (or are just more in touch with their feelings- hello?!) thus the legendary "women's intuition". When I was younger, this ability to "just know" things scared me a little because I didn't understand it, and it made me feel different at a time when I just wanted to fit in. So I ignored my own inner voice and went to psychics on occasion, to see what they would tell me about the future. Almost every psychic I saw said the same thing "you don't need me, you can do this for yourself", so I decided to start accepting and nurturing my own abilities.

As I did, I noticed that my so-called "rational" mind often over-ruled my intuitive voice. I was at work one day, in a meeting, and someone knocked on the door. My intuition immediately told me "That's John!" (a co-worker I was secretly dating at time). My rational mind snapped back "You can't know that! Besides, he's in school right now, AND he's not a manager so he doesn't belong in this meeting." Three reasons in five seconds why I would be wrong. Of course when the door opened, there he stood, having been called in for a meeting down the hall (that I knew nothing about) and had knocked on the wrong door. That's when I decided to really start trusting my intuitive voice, and it's never failed me.

I could give many more examples, but the point I guess I'm trying to make is that maybe we should listen to, and trust ourselves more. I think our intuition is our heart/higher self/wise, eternal soul trying to communicate what it knows based on it's vast experience, but our ego/rational mind tries to shut it down. I believe intuition can lead you, guide you to make decisions, to walk your path, to do the right thing for yourself, and ultimately for everyone whose life you touch. I think we should nurture this voice, encourage it to speak, by carving out some quiet time in our busy lives so we're able to hear it. I've been trying to do this more and more, and it's been amazing for me, bringing me a greater sense of peace and well-being. I wish you the same.

Sending love and light to all.