I once read, years ago, that passion is a deep knowing. I still believe this to be true. What I have found, though, is that a deep knowing is a very accurate descriptor of intuition, as well. It may be because the two, passion and intuition, are so closely tied to one another. Here’s how I see it: Your passions are a reflection of your authentic self. Your intuition does not lead you away from your authentic self. Those gut feelings or persistent thoughts that keep working their way into your decision making process are your true self speaking up through your ego.
For me, my intuition tends to be very front and center. The times I have ignored it have resulted in poor decisions which caused me a fair amount of grief. The Universe always helps me to find my way back on track. But if I had pushed my ego aside and let my truest most beautiful self lead the way, I would have been a much happier person a lot sooner.
Intuition is not just about life altering decisions. It pops up when and wherever it needs to…sometimes even when you think there is no decision pending. The trick is recognizing it and heeding what it is telling you. Here is an excellent example:
We are planning a summer vacation to Florida. I spent a lot of time researching the logistics of the trip as well as all the activities we wanted to do while we are there. Normally, when I plan our vacations, I purchase and reserve as I go. But this time was different from the get go. For fun, my daughter and I made a slide show presentation of our trip on Google Drive. We included dates, times and costs of everything. I went ahead and booked the hotels, because I didn’t want to lose out by waiting too long. I had no qualms about that portion because both places had a 100% refund policy up until a week before check in. But for some reason, I kept putting off purchasing airline or attraction tickets. I knew I was procrastinating, but I just kept getting the feeling that I should wait.
I felt this on a deep level. My conscious brain kept telling me, “You know, vacation will be here before you know it. You’d better get busy and take care of these things!” But the more I considered the decision to wait on airfare, wait on car rental, wait on everything, the more comfortable I felt. Rather than letting my ego panic because I was not taking care of it in a timely manner, fearing that I would miss out somehow, I began to settle and relax…like I knew that doing all of that was not going to end well. Part of me kept nudging, gently and steadily…”Wait.”…”Not yet.”…”There’s still time.”…and one more…”Something is coming.” This was not the creepy movie something is coming. This was quiet and soft guidance from the Universe: be prepared for change.
Turns out, listening to this small, still, yet powerful voice served me quite well. I didn’t know it, but my daughter had applied to take part in a school related program scheduled during the week previous to the start of classes. She was accepted and it requires us to come home a day early. So I felt validated for not having bought airline tickets and I was able to easily adjust our hotel stays.
But wait! There’s more! Oh yes…for those of you who read my last post on recognizing messages from the Universe, you will agree that I received two of them this week. Twice in one day the word “Albuquerque” came up in conversation; once at work and once at home- in neither instance did I bring it up. Second: in the book I am reading, a man is living in his van. I haven’t talked about the book to anyone yet, as I’ve just started it. Yet, this morning, my boyfriend mentions a headline he noticed about how many people who took to the road in a van after being laid off during the pandemic, are not wanting to return to their stationary homes. Two small things that said to me, “I’m here. I’m listening. I’m guiding.” So it happens that my boyfriend is being sent out of town for work for four months and cannot go on vacation with us. Pile on top of that the situation with the lack of cars available for rentals and the whole entire plan changes drastically. I would have had tons of cancellations to manage and likely a lot of fees to go with them. I am really happy I waited!
Which brings me to intuition being tied to passion. Things which we are passionate about are generally things that bring us happiness…helping others, helping the planet, being creative, having a fulfilling, satisfying livelihood. They are all means of creating happiness in our lives. So it follows that our intuition will always guide us in such a way that leads to happiness. Sometimes it seems to lead us the long way around, but that’s a post for another day. Next time you get that feeling that is almost tangible, recognize your solid intuition and listen to what it’s saying: be happy!
pajama wisdom 