Trusting Your Intuition

There is a wise being living inside of you. It is your intuitive self.

Focus your awareness into a deep place in your body,

a place where your "gut feelings" reside. You can

communicate with it by silently talking to it, making requests,

or asking questions. Then relax, don't think too hard

with your mind, and be open to receiving answers.

They are usually very simple and relate to the present moment,

not the past or the future, and they feel right.

Shakti Gawain

(Hubby bought me these wooden giraffes for Christmas. They are made of wood and really tall. Mom stand about a foot and a half and baby one foot.  Hard to get a good picture of them)  

Have you ever been just about ready to do something, but then felt a gut feeling in your stomach telling you that you are about make a mistake?. Have you ever felt uncomfortable in the presence of a certain person?Have you ever had a strong feeling about something, that turned out to be right? Intuition is that strong strong feeling we receive which tells us to do something or to stay away from doing something else, and, as women, we have been blessed with a strong, protective intuition, but many of us do not listen to it. Fear limits us into not trusting ourselves.  We become frightened of making the wrong choice so we blindly follow along being left with no choice but whatever is chosen for us. I've always believed in my intuition, and it has never steered me wrong.

My latest encounter with intuition occurred over the weekend.  My first prescription for blood pressure medication has caused a chronic cough. Ace inhibitors are known to do this to some people, so, although my blood pressure has been steadily getting lower, the cough has begun to interfere with my sleep, opening me up to a whole new set of problems. My doctor has prescribed another medication, and when I went to the pharmacy on Tuesday to pick up my prescription, the doctor told me that a common early side effect is a dizziness that is nothing to worry about. It is only the medication working to regulate my blood pressure. I  decided then not to begin using it until the weekend.  Too many people are falling or being pushed onto these subway tracks so, with all good intentions, I figured I would begin on Saturday when I didn't have to travel to work.

However, when Saturday morning rolled around, and I prepared to take my medication, a strong feeling came over me warning me, 'Don't do it.' 'This is silly,' I thought. 'The doctor prescribed it.  She wouldn't give me something that would hurt me.' I absolutely love and trust my doctor but I put the pill down and decided to do a little more research on it first.  And, from what I saw, there are NO serious side effects to be wary of, but it CAN cause back pain. 

The fact is, I've already got so much back pain that I need to use a cane to go back and forth to work so I can stop and rest if it gets too bad and lean on the cane until it is somewhat relieved. I don't need anything making it worse. In fact, I do believe this tortuous trip back and forth is the main reason I want to retire.  I mean when 4:30 rolls around, and instead of being all excited that my work day is over, I dread the trip going home, there is definitely a problem.  Another side effect is stuffiness. That's another thing I already suffer with.  It NEVER goes away.  Do I really want to take something that might make it worse?  

I decided that it is best to have a sit down with my doctor before taking it. I usually do like to discuss things with her, but didn't get a chance when she wrote out this prescription.  I was coming out of the pulmonologists office when I ran into her, and she quickly wrote out the prescription.  We didn't have a chance to talk about it.  Maybe this is an unwarranted fear, maybe not, but it doesn't hurt to wait until next Monday when we have our sit down.

Learning to trust ourselves is one of the most important lessons for us to learn.  Have you ever experienced your intuition and it proved right? 

We always know which is the best road to follow, but we follow

only the road that we have become accustomed to.

Paulo Coelho

The Pilgrimage