How often have we said to ourselves and others: ‘I always rely on my intuition…it never lets me down!’
Our memories are selective. Those times we’ve been completely inaccurate fade like clouds melted by sun. When we’ve been spot-on, we recall these moments at length, re-telling and embedding them into our thoughts. Conversely, how many times has our logical, rational thinking also been wrong?
I have been guilty of total reliance on my intuitive instinct. What is it I am sensing?
When one’s own past experiences and emotions are involved, there is much that can feed a gut feeling. A recent example was my concern for a couple we are close to. Currently they are under some financial pressure. He is working hard growing their business, she is a busy young mother. She has continued to post gorgeous photos of her amazing clothes (she’s always had superb taste)—all outfits I’d not seen before. My hunch (intuition?) was that she was not tightening her belt in this area, possibly straining their already challenging circumstances. Women can use retail therapy to handle stress. I became convinced she was doing this to have a break from surrounding difficulties. I sent her a message; we met for coffee. She is one of those treasured people who I can engage with in open, honest and trusted conversation.
It turned out their ‘splurge buckets’ had not been topped up for ages; she’d been clever, foraging around in her wardrobe for outfits bought years ago. She’d not shopped for a long, long time.
I recalled my own bouts of inappropriate retail therapy. My own emotional experiences were playing a part here; my so-called gut feeling was misleading.
When I have been fully accurate with an intuitive hunch, it has been visceral, involving immediate physical as well as emotional response, without conscious reasoning. There has been no over-think. Often it has alerted me to a dangerous person or situation.
Few of us are gifted clairvoyants. Our predictive interpretations can be flawed, linked to our own lives, and detached from current reality.
Burnside Writers Group 