Is It Fear or Your Gut Instinct?
Here are my therapeutic musings…
🧠 I've been thinking about a question that practically all of us grapple with: When something feels off, should you trust your gut instinct, or is it just fear in disguise? If I had a clear-cut answer to this timeless dilemma, I'd have solved one of humanity's most perplexing quandaries. But alas, here I am, pondering it like the rest of us. And let me tell you, this question is a frequent visitor in the therapy room.
📢 Ask yourself:
"Is this unsettling feeling informed by concrete factors, or is it just a manifestation of old fears?"
"How can I further expose myself to the situation or decision at hand to refine my gut feeling?"
"Are there observable facts that support my gut feeling, or is it just ambiguous apprehensions?"
Pause here for a moment and connect with your breath. This process shouldn’t just be a mental exercise.
💡The revelation: Just as muscles grow stronger through cycles of stress and recovery, your intuitive muscle follows a similar pattern. It's honed through exposure to new experiences (your "exercise"), mental reflection (the "metabolic energy" you expend), and the wisdom gained from informed decision-making (your "recovery").
Here are three steps to feeding your instinct and making more aligned life choices:
Experience - Feast on First-hand Data: Imagine you're contemplating a seismic life shift, like moving to a new city or changing career. Instead of getting paralyzed by overthinking, feed your gut with experiences and information. Dive into that new environment, immerse yourself in its culture, chat with locals, or attend related workshops. By doing so, you arm your gut to make more informed decisions. This is your 'exercise.'
Reflection - Digest the Data: After gathering these experiences, it's time for some mental 'metabolic burn.' It’s crucial to remember that our instincts evolved as protective mechanisms, so we need to be able to reflect on their origins. Dig into your feelings with questions like the ones I’ve posed in the section above.
Wisdom - Tune in through Stillness: Meditation is your 'recovery.' Just like a muscle heals and grows stronger with rest, your intuition also benefits from periods of stillness. Why? Because anxiety tends to scream"Do something now!" but most decisions aren't life-or-death. Genuine intuition often murmurs or whispers, emanating from a wiser, deeper place within you. The art of stilling your mind sharpens this inner compass, helping you discern between the frantic shouts of anxiety and the wiser whispers of your intuition.
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Thanks for being here,
