Intuition: Follow the Voice Within

What If You’re Right? A Story About Intuition, Ego, and Trust

Intuition is a recurring theme throughout my fictional series, The Weight of Light. The story arc is built around the main character’s abilities to use intuitive guidance to navigate life, not just for fun, but even through difficult and traumatic times.

We all have intuitive abilities. “Gut feelings.” For some, it may come more naturally than others, but I believe we can all learn how to tap into this internal wisdom and use it to guide us towards living a life aligned with our most authentic selves.

This is in line with my personal experiences, which is probably one reason I’m so compelled to write about it in my stories. But now I’d like to share my real-life, personal story about intuition, and my inner voice.

My Inner Voice

As a kid, my inner voice was strong. But like most people, as I got older, “life” eroded away these perceptions. I was taught to pull my head out of the clouds. I learned to make decisions based on analytics and intellect. That’s the expectation, right?

And that worked. At least on a superficial level. I became successful—by society’s standards. I did all the things I was supposed to do, had the house, the family, and moved my way through a great career. But my heart was telling me there was something more. That inner voice kept whispering, barely loud enough to hear over the ever-steady hum of other people’s expectations and my own need to find approval among them.

But I was out of alignment with myself, and I felt it. Not just in my mind, but in my body. I knew my inner voice was telling me to make a change. But how would everyone react? That would certainly rock the boat enough to send me overboard. People don’t make decisions based on “feelings.” That’s crazy…right?

Well. I can tell you that when I finally listened, when I finally took action, and moved in the direction that my heart wanted me to go… it disrupted my life so beautifully that it was impossible to deny. It wasn’t, at first, easy to listen to my inner voice. In fact, I was scared shitless that I would fall flat on my face, that I would disappoint those around me, and that I would fail. But I was already miserable, so why not try anyway?

I ended up making a whole series of gutsy moves. I got another degree. Then a few certifications, in entirely new areas of study. And that is when the synchronicities started to happen. Blatant enough that other people around me noticed. It was like puzzle pieces falling into place.

Fast forward a decade. After more decisions and life choices, I ended up with a leadership role at a large corporation, with an incredible salary in a creative field, just like I wanted. Everything was great…until it wasn’t. After a few years, I felt that small voice again. The job was stressing me out. I had pivoted drastically once before, and it had worked out beautifully. Could I do the same thing again? Could I really trust that instinct to be right again?

How Intuition Feels

My restlessness soon morphed into anxiousness. And over time, that constant undercurrent of anxiety soon became too much to ignore. In a desperate attempt to get a grip on my stress-levels, I discovered a science-based method to help me achieve personal coherence, developed by the HeartMath Institute. If you’d like to read more about that, check out my companion post in the Science of Light about coherence.

Suffice it to say, these coherence practices helped me learn to quiet my inner noise and achieve a psychophysiological state where I could literally, scientifically, become more intuitive.

On the spiritual side, it was less straight-forward. I had already taken the first step, which was to admit that my intuition was real, and to be open to it. I think of it as a frequency or vibration…I have to tune into it.

This can be tricky sometimes. How do you know if it’s really your intuition, and not just your conscious thoughts and desires coming through? I think we have to really sit with how it feels, to understand this. Our true inner guidance will always feel right. Because it’s coming from within us. It might be scary, or surprising… but it will feel genuine. And that, I believe, is the real difference.

Ego vs. Intuition

Our ego can easily get in the way. That’s what happened to me. After listening to my inner voice, my heart, my authentic self, I realized that I was unhappy in my current job because I had made a string of professional decisions from a place of ego, not intuition. I had accepted the promotions, broken the glass ceiling and excelled my way to a dream job. Except…it wasn’t my dream. It didn’t align with my spirit, just my bank account. And that is ego.

My inner voice told me to resign. It told me I would be just fine on my own, starting my own business. But that was risky. I could fail. I could lose all my savings. What if I can’t find any work? What if everyone thinks I’m a fool?

Again…this is Ego. Our ego is always threatening us with risk. Ego speaks in fear. Intuition speaks in potential.

Trusting the Leap

I think that as much as we need to learn how to listen for our inner guidance, we also have to learn to identify our ego. When we notice it…we need to quiet it. And listen.

But the next step might be the hardest. At least, it is for me. Once I’ve learned to recognize the signs, the vibes, the undeniable intuitive feelings… I still sometimes struggle to follow through.

Even though I’ve learned through experience that my instincts are right, it can still feel like stepping out into the unknown. This is where we need to learn to trust ourselves.

Since I resigned from my corporate job, things have come along just as I’ve needed them. The timing is really quite impressive.

Way to go, Universe!

A Life Aligned

But even better… I am living my life in alignment with my true self. And with that, I’ve found a deep appreciation for what we are all truly capable of feeling, sensing, and knowing as human beings.

I’ve discovered lots of techniques over the years that have helped me hone my intuitive skills. I believe we should never stop seeking. Never stop growing. And it’s good to connect with others who are walking a similar path.

What is your experience with intuition? I’d love to hear about it!

With love,

Jae

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Want to Tune In?

If you’re exploring your own intuitive voice, here are a few things that helped me:

• Journaling through fear vs. instinct

• Breathwork and heart-focused breathing

• Saying yes to curiosity

• Reading/listening to others on the same path (but always filtering through your own sense of truth)

You don’t need to follow someone else’s method—you just need to start listening.