3 Reasons Why You Should Cultivate Your Intuition

“ Intuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next.”
Jonas Salk

Billionaires such as Donald Trump triumphantly proclaim its usefulness. The late Steve Jobs sang its praises and hundreds and thousands of people all over the world note every single day how it has kept them from harm or otherwise impacted their lives in myriad ways- the object of such praise and adulation? Intuition , the sixth sense, one’s gut, a hunch- call it what you want, but increasingly more and more people are finding the value in either heeding its dictates and valuing it more and more in their everyday lives.
So, what is this thing called “ intuition ” and how can you use it in your own life? Well, have you ever had an uneasy feeling about a person or situation and ignored it to your detriment? Have you ever been uncomfortable about a course of action, but plowed ahead anyway and regretted it? These type of feelings or “knowings” which have no basis in objective fact provide valuable information and are collectively known by the term “ intuition .” The word intuition originates from the Latin word 'intueri' which means “to look inside or contemplate.” Heeding our intuition refers to our ability to secure information outside the usual framework of rational thought. If we choose to pay attention to these “nudges” and to consciously sharpen our ability to integrate them into our thinking, we can begin to bring more creative approaches to bear on situations that are near and dear to us as well as those that impact a greater number of people. What do we get out of actively cultivating and sharpening our intuitive skills?
Innovation
Albert Einstein famously said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” If it is ever in your best interest to be ahead of the curve or is in your benefit to bring new thinking to a vexing issue, actively cultivating your intuition will move that much closer to achieving this objective. It can also serve as the portal to moving into new, uncharted waters that can produce unique results. As the well known story goes, a scientist working for the 3M company developed a unique, repositionable adhesive, but had no idea what to do with his discovery. It just so happened that some years later when one of his colleagues (Mr. Art Fry) was daydreaming about a bookmark that would stay put in his church hymnal that something clicked. The rest is history.

Insight
As big as a fan I am of engaging the intellect, relying solely on this faculty alone can cause us to miss vital information. Client after client has relayed to me instances, “I felt something funny in the pit of my stomach in his presence,” “she gave me the heebie-jeebies every time I thought about her,” “it seems like I was being rushed to make a decision” to be followed by the happenings that occurred after the fact that confirmed that taking these clues seriously (or taking additional time before proceeding) would have been helping in avoiding errors, heartache or flawed decision-making in matters big and small. Intuition expands our definition of what is considered information by giving credence to insights we derive from beyond our five senses. If we ever have the opportunity to make favorable results more likely by bring more information to bear why would we willingly dismiss such a gift?

Spiritual ConnectionMany people describe intuition as being akin to the “voice” of Spirit and assert that the silence which is so helpful to cultivating our intuitive abilities is how God communicates to us on a daily basis. Many of us derive a considerable amount of comfort in the midst of our daily challenges by having a connection in a force much larger that themselves. This sense of comfort only increases when people actively cultivate this connection and even develop a personalized lexicon of how Spirit communicates with/to them. One’s personal daily interactions are that much richer (and normal irritations are much less vexing) with an awareness that there are forces “on duty” so much greater than what is on our proverbial plate at any given moment.

So there is much information out there just itching to make itself known to those who are open and receptive to taking journeys beyond tried and true ways of doing and being and traditional cognitive thinking patterns. No one has ever advocated throwing your intellect out the window, but enhancing it with intuitive insights bodes well for setting yourself apart, enriching your base of operation and connecting to something larger than yourself- sounds like a winning proposition all around!

© Idara E. Bassey 2013