Say "YES" to Life!

When I was a kid, I had a toy called a “Magic 8 Ball.” It was a toy from the 80’s, that when you shook it, an answer would appear, such as "yes," "no" or "maybe." You could use it to help you make decisions or to tell you what the future held. It is crazy to think, how early in life we start mistrusting our intuition. I use this merely as an example of ways we stop trusting our own instincts. Think about the last time you had to make a difficult decision. Was it very difficult to decide? Did you flip-flop a lot before making a final choice? My hunch, tells me - yes!

When did we begin to stop trusting our internal instincts? Did we make a bad choice that lead to self-distrust? Did others try to sway our decision and this caused us to second guess our gut feeling? Whatever the case might be, we lost touch with our inner guide and voice of reason. Throughout life, we learn a lot of valuable things, sometimes by making mistakes and sometimes by observing the mistakes of others. One might say that part of our intuition, is based on the knowledge that we have obtained over the years and the rest being the voice of your inner spirit. Each of us has this inner voice! It is simply a matter of tuning back into it when it gets lost.

Take a moment now to reflect on a time when you got a bad feeling about something (before it happened). It is not a coincidence that our mind, body, and soul told us that something bad was about to happen. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. It might sound cheesy, but my life so far has proven this to be true. Even if you aren’t convinced, it could still be a useful way to look at life. When we approach life with the theory that “everything happens for a reason.” It helps us accept both the good and the bad. It helps to put a more positive spin on life’s curveballs.

“Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect” – Steve Jobs.

We all have a voice inside of us, that doesn’t use words - listen to it! More times than not, those hunches are based on facts that are hidden below our self-conscious. Our mind is smarter than we somethings give it credit for. Even if you think you don’t know the answer, most likely you already do.

Exercise

Below is a short exercise that you can complete. Write your answers down and once you are finished, reflect on your discoveries.

Think of something negative that happened to you recently, that was genuinely out of your control. Now, ask yourself the following questions:

• What are some possible reasons that it happened?
• What was the outcome?
• Did this event help you learn something valuable?
• Did something more positive happen as a direct or indirect result of this happening?
• Has your life changed in any way, shape or form, since this happened?
• If this event had not transpired, could something much worse have happened instead?

Reflection

After thoroughly answering each question, what did you discover?

How will these discoveries impact your day to day decision making?

How are you able to reconnect with your inner voice?

Are you interested in diving deeper in this subject? If so, be sure to check out The Power of Intuition by Laura Day. The author does a fantastic job of exploring the power of intuition. Would you like to first read an Oprah review of this book? Check out this link.