Counter-intuitive: Test Your Intuition
One of the most effective ways to learn to trust your intuition is to fail to do so.
Intuition with Action
Think of times throughout your life when you have trusted an intuitive hit. There’s usually a child-like feeling of delight that goes along with this: “I did it! I did it!”
Intuition without Action
Think of a time when you clearly received an intuitive impulse, but kept it to yourself, not acting on or even speaking about it until after it was confirmed. There’s still a very strong sense of satisfaction, relief, emotional well-being — but also a very clear and obvious sense of where/when you failed to follow through: “Man, I knew that was coming! I KNEW it…”
Intuition with Willful Failure
Now, think of a time (or times) when you failed to act on an intuitive impulse. The impulse was clear, and the failure to act was actually a choice — to logically override it or let your thinking mind unravel it. Maybe there’s a sense of duty or responsibility that you hope to escape…
You never get that same sense of resolution, or transmutation from nagging worry to peace and equilibrium. Sure, you may quickly dismiss it and it may fade into your subconscious, but that’s not identifying it and processing it. You stuff it down, it lingers in some form of background anxiety until it resurfaces when the situation manifests, comes to pass.
Just as clearly, you see where you tuned it out — and there is a sense of mild regret, a target missed, an important file lost and forgotten: “Damn! SO close!” You should’ve known that one.
You honor your intuition by greeting it, by acknowledging the individual messages as they come through. Tell them to someone, or speak them out loud to an empty room.
Can you hear me? Are you listening?
We generally hesitate to keep sending messages to an email address that may not be live and functioning. When someone replies to your message, it’s the perfect proof that you have found him, you have the right address, and you don’t have to keep questioning its accuracy.
Why would the Voices of your Source behave any differently? Maybe they’re more patient and willing to keep trying. Maybe it’s best if you hit the re: button and say “Yeah, Hey! Good to hear from you — Keep em coming!”
Act on a bit of intuitive guidance, even if you don’t understand what it means or where it might lead.
Testing the validity of the Voices you hear
You can test your intuition by employing deliberate, willful counter-intuition.
Acknowledge the Message received — and choose to purposefully go against it. Don’t just ignore it — decide to defy it. Think of an action that is exactly opposite, totally in the wrong direction — and set the intention to do it anyway. As a test.
It’s a bold test. (This is really a Dare.)
Discomfort is a powerful clue.
- What do your first instincts tell you about that course?
- What do you notice or feel first?
- If you felt a stab of panic, a sense of dread, doubt, hesitation — what does that tell you?
Doesn’t it indicate to you that on a deeper level you know what to trust? Actually you feel it, and start calling it “know” later on.
Your body is an excellent divination tool. Let it taste your truth for you.
If your body gasps “How could you?” It’s probably saying “Don’t.”
If you find it challenging to trust your intuition, hopefully what you’ll discover by trying to go against it is that it may be a hell of a lot easier to trust it than to not.
Care to share an example of how you learned to trust your intuition the hard way?
Image credit Kevin Labianco via Creative Commons on Flickr
Contacting Your Spirit Guides - 101
Free resources for Shift Your Spirits readers:
- Read the ebook by Slade Roberson especially for beginners who want to know who/what spirit guides are and how to communicate with them
- Listen to the mp3 preview of the Spirit Guide Attunement portion of the Talking to Your Spirit Guides class by Slade Roberson
- Try the meditation to Meet a Guide contributed by Jeff Lilly of Druid Journal
Comments
9 Responses to “Counter-intuitive: Test Your Intuition”
Leave a Reply
Most Recent Articles
Recommended Links
Wow, Slade - that’s an ingenious way to “test” our intuitive abilities. I don’t think I want to take you up on your dare - my whole body is already shuddering at the mere thought! Which totally proves your point.
What a great way of acknowledging intuition - to willfully “try on” going against our inner wisdom in order to discover it.
Love it!
Blessings,
Andrea
When I was in the travel business, I had two clients booked and ticketed on American Airlines 191 which crashed in Chicago 10 minutes after take off. Everyone was killed instantly on that DC10..
I saw the crash as I was also leaving that day and was on the way to the airport only 5 minutes away. At least all the smoke. Then flew ritht over it as I was leaving.
They never really found out what caused it for sure.
But when I called my office I found out they had cancelled at the last minute and were not really sure why. They just decided not to go.
The energy of all those people dying at once so close was intense. It felt like a 200 pound weight all over my body. My son who was driving me, who is not metapyhysically inclined, mentioned it to me first. He said it was difficult to walk.
Slade,
I’ll take that itali”sized” Dare! Wasn’t it Charlie Daniels, I take that dare, …I am the best that ever been” Fire on the Mountain, Lightin’ in the Air…
This story goes for the #1) the more clearer I become and act #2) the dearer intuition IS, “spot on” and #3) is the rest of the story. For the grownups reading this post that is those who are younger than my 50ish years, yeh, whom are
compassionate, no pun intended. This is how, I, see how wonderful it truly is to trust what I was un able to follow, my inner knowing.
Finally, followed my intuition, on a matter, oh so dear to my heart; my son and I split “ties” this past week, totally his decision. Setting my boundaries to live in
peace under my own roof was the first decision. Secondly, I gave clear healthy
boundaries for him to stay that we could co-habitat in harmony as well. His actions showed my conditions were un acceptable to him. You see, he’s been a little spoiled. Life has kinda beat him up a bit recently, however, he was showing responsibility. Yet, lacking respect for me and my home when circumstances became stressful in his world, e.g. losing a job, gf pregnant, usual stuff, right. (wow, baby, you ain’t seen nutin yet). In other words, I was the scapegoat here. not fun. I could have turned it around and gave in when I saw the difficulty he was dealing with but, Slade, I felt/knew it was for my best interest to allow him to be.
I did not agrue, lament or negotiate any of his behavior. Respectfully, said, “it is clear you have made your decision so you must move on. I love you and wish you the best.” Please, know the kiddo, is my heart and I meant what I said.
Hence, I usually cringed and allow what some experts call abuse, but, it takes me awhile to get to my limits when something is not working right. In the past, it bugged the h….ish out of me. This was very difficult UNTIL I trusted what I felt to my core. What I felt was intense, really a shaking within my body that I, only, experience when he’s acting out. I knew in that instant I was doing the right thing, standing on harmony’s wings by affirming his decision was obvious via his actions. It was best for me this time…like “Fathers know best”, the alpha woman says….Mother knows better, too! And can emphathically say today, my gut really screamed so loud that this is how intuition works which I do, and have decided to welcome the next something that I feel alot sooner. Ahhhh!
Love the exercise, it will be used. In these times of growing up…lol…some decisions are hard to discern for me so thank you. I appreciate this test, win-win exercise for clearer, immediate results on which road to fly to soar on the grace of life, love and laughter. My prayer, blessings for all.
Namaste
Well, Slade, i took your challenge before you wrote this blog
the past couple of months have been quite transformative and rather unpleasant at times. I had a perpetual stomach ache for many weeks. I also did a lot of things i didn’t want to do and i knew i shouldn’t do in that time. I didn’t trust my gut, and I suffered the consequences.
In the past couple of weeks, i’ve released a lot of things on various spiritual and physical levels and cleared space for the next great and wonderful things. Funny thing, my stomach doesn’t hurt anymore. now that i’m listening to my intuition, i have an amazing sense of calm and well being.
thanks for yet another timely blog.
When I was about 6 years old, I was the passenger in a small ‘74 Toyota Corolla being driven by my 16 yr old brother. For some strange reason during that particular drive, something told me to get in the back seat of the car. It wasn’t a voice, more a strong clear idea that seemed like a good one. I’m fairly sure that the message was, if I got in an accident, the front seat would be good padding if I was hurled forward.
I started getting up and maneuvering between the two front seats toward the back when my brother told me to sit back down.
Not a minute later, we turned a corner and ran into a car that suddenly pulled out of a parking lot. Our car was totaled.
Seatbelt laws weren’t observed back in that day either, and I wasn’t wearing mine. One minute I was on the seat and the next sitting on the floor of the car.
I ended up with a knee injury when I slammed forward and it demolished the console in front of me. I also remember what looked like a bullet hole/break in the windshield.
I asked my brother, who shot the windshield or how that circular break got there. He said “that was from your head”.
The knee injury healed pretty fast and my head never did hurt from the impact. I was being watched over that day, and I look back to that example as one of the earliest and clearest memories of “intuition” and what to listen to, and how it comes to me.
Once, when I needed gas, something was telling me not to go into that gas station. I thought, “no, I need gas now - but please protect me and let me know what it was.” I pulled in and stopped at the pump. Immediately another car raced across in front of me missing me by an inch.
Most of the time I listen. Other times I just ask for protection. I depends how strong the feeling is. I don’t want to walk around afraid.
Every time I have decided that I “know better” than my intuition I have regretted it. It is so rewarding everytime I have listened to my intuition - things usually turn out even better than I would have imagined.
Just wrote a post of my own about how hard it is for me to actually listen to my own intuition….
I think I have had this happen, before I really “knew” what counter-intuition was…it has happened more than a few times I think, looking back. It happens when my mind tries to tell me something “logically” to write off my gut feeling, but my gut kicks back and says “nuh uh! no way! listen to me, I’m right!!” and it has been so far!
I’m glad you posted this…it just gives me a little more confirmation my gut was always right…
Slade, I think this is a brilliant way to learn to trust intuition.
I agree that the body is an excellent divination tool. When I’m going ‘off track’, my stomach feels tight and my whole body becomes tense, depending on how ‘off track’ I go. I know that I’m ‘on track’ when my body is relaxed.
I can’t think of a time when I’ve gone against intuition for something big, but for small things I go against it all the time. For example, I know it’s going to rain (even though it doesn’t look like it) and don’t take the umbrella and then get soaked.