When Your Inner Voice Speaks...Just Stop & Listen

“It’s good to stop and listen to what your spirit is telling you.” – Madeline Figueroa-Jones

Ever have that feeling that something is not right? Ever feel like you should be going down a certain path and no matter how much you ignore that feeling, it doesn’t go away? Ever dream of doing something and that dream stays constant? That is the miracle of intuition. We all have it. Intuition comes in many forms…a gut feeling, an inner voice, instinct, even alarms ringing in your head. We have all experienced it but most of us ignore our intuition because it usually is not in line with what we want.

We, as humans, tend to want what we want, when we want it. Sometimes what we want is not meant for us. Our intuition will try to warn us and guide us in the right direction but most of the time, we just ignore it. I know for me, I thought for years I was overthinking or was paranoid. Now looking back in retrospect, I see that I wasn’t. And had I listened to that inner voice, listened to what my spirit was telling me as Maddy said above, I think I would not have experienced some of the negative things in my life or made the bad choices that I have made. However, the beauty of life is that everything is meant to be. So I don’t dwell on the past too much. What’s done is done. Regret can eat away at you and hinder you in living life to its fullest. You learn the lesson and move on. And what I have learned is that I need to listen to my intuition. My intuition has my attention now, believe me.

Intuition is simply trusting in yourself. When you second-guess yourself, you’re not trusting yourself to make the right decision. You’re letting fear of the unknown affect your choice and whittle away your trust in yourself. You already know what you need to do. Your intuition has your back in that respect. If you take the time to simply listen to it, a whole new world will open up to you. Ever took a job that you knew you should not take? Or pursued a relationship with a great person knowing that it didn’t feel right? Ever been with someone that you wanted to be with so bad but you felt like something wasn’t right with that person? That’s your intuition telling you that you are making the wrong choice.

Your intuition is never wrong. I think that once we welcome that intuition and really stop and listen to what that inner voice is trying to tell us, then we finally come to terms with the fact that the inner voice is right and maybe that’s not a bad thing. I know in affairs of the heart, just because someone is a great person does not mean that person is great for you. A significant other doesn’t always come along packaged in the way you want them to. But when it feels right, you have hit the jackpot.

Listening to your inner voice can help you carry out your destiny. As I wrote back on January 26th in my blog post titled “What is Your Calling?", we all have our calling; what we are destined to do in our life. Your inner voice will tell you if the profession you’re currently in is right for you or not. Your inner voice will tell you when to take a chance on something. And when you stray on your life’s path, your inner voice will be there to tell you to go left. If you decide to go right and something happens to push you left like job loss, an ending of a relationship or something tragic occurring, your inner voice will come into play and confirm that yes, you must go left. Even when you feel like you don’t want to go left, you have to trust your inner voice. Like I said before, we want what we want but sometimes things that we want are not meant for us.

Many times we are swayed by others that contradict our intuition. It might feel like a sure thing but if deep down, it does not feel right, then it is not right. There have been times where I have not gone somewhere with a group of people or not participated in an activity because it didn’t feel right. The others in the group did not understand and tried to convince me to just go. But I stood my ground because I have to be comfortable and happy with what I am doing. I am feeling this uneasy feeling for a reason. I don’t question it. I just listen.

I remember one time I was on my way to Chicago. Now I happen to love to travel and do so frequently. I am not scared of flying or anything like that. So as I was on my way to the airport, I started to feel an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I started to feel anxious about the flight. As I got closer to the airport, my inner voice started to tell me not to go. At first, I tried to dismiss it. I mean, this is ridiculous, I thought to myself. The flight is under 2 hours so I could do it in my sleep. It was so unlike me to not want to get on a plane and go somewhere. So when I exited the train at the airport, I called my best friend Herman and told him how I was feeling. He told me, “You have to do what makes you comfortable. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t go.” I ended up turning right back around and going home. And I don’t regret it. As soon as I got home, the uneasiness was gone. Now I don’t know what would have happened had I gone to Chicago but I’m not questioning it.

That inner voice is there for a reason. I always look at my inner voice as my guardian angel in a sense. My inner voice looks out for me. It saves me from doing something that I don’t feel comfortable with. And when you feel uncomfortable or uneasy, that affects your happiness. At the end of the day, you have to make yourself happy, not others. You have to look out for you. So trust your instincts, your intuition. Listen to that inner voice. The more you listen and pay attention to your inner voice, the more clearer it gets. That’s how you develop your inner voice and act accordingly. And once you are at that point, anything is possible in life. No more second guessing yourself. The world is yours for the taking. It all begins within you. Just take the time to stop and listen...then trust in you.