Contemplation Or Intuition: Which Is The Better Choice?
The wellness world talks a lot of about INTUITION.
I, myself have talked a lot about intuition, because what I see is that many people only rely on thinking it through and getting lost in contemplation while discarding their intuitive nudges.
The reason, I believe, is that logic –as the result of lots of thought and contemplation– feels safer because it's more black and white and can often be justified by numbers, data, and evidence. It's masculine. It fits into the patriarchy.
However, logic cannot “see” everything.
After all, well thought-through projects still often fail… AND, very importantly, logic-based decisions don't necessarily lead to a fulfilled and happy life for the individuals making the decision.
THAT is where intuition comes in.
To me, intuition feels more feminine, more mysterious (in a good way;)), more connected to your body, and more knowing but in a very calm, grounded, confident, feeling-based way.
People often hesitate to trust their intuition because there is no hard evidence that something will work. There are no calculations, no data and, therefore, nothing to soften the blow if a project goes wrong.
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SIDENOTE:
A question I often get is “How do I know it's my intuition guiding me and not fear or other inner chatter?”
My answer is simple: You intuition doesn't try to convince you, or yell at you, or try to either scare or shame you into something. Your intuition is calm and presents as a simple feeling in your body that says “Yes! I am drawn to that!” or “No! This doesn't feel right.” When your inner voice becomes very fast and tries to convince you to go one way or another, it's often your fear, your ego, or your inner voice trying to for ex. get you to make a choice that is pleasing others but not yourself.
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So, what should you do? Think it through and contemplate OR follow your intuition?
My take is this:
You were given both, so why not use both?
I always think that a person is the most whole, the most balanced, and the most empowered when they nourish and connect with their masculine AND their feminine sides (irrelevant of gender) –with their incredibly capable thinking brain and their beautiful, wise intuition.
Let's go through an example:
Let's say you are faced with a challenge and you just cannot make up your mind about what you should do.
Step 1: Take out a piece of paper and sketch it out so you can see various paths forward. Make a list of all of your choices for how you could navigate this challenge. Allow yourself to think creatively, outside of the box, and come up with as many paths forward as possible.
Step 2: Check in with your intuition to see which of the options you came up with in Step 1 feel intuitively right to you… which ones do you find yourself literally leaning into more. Then, cross off the ones that feel intuitively totally wrong. If there are some that feel a little in the middle, leave them on your list, because they may start to feel better intuitively after you do the next step.
Step 3: Look at the solutions you have come up with that feel acceptable intuitively and think them all through. Contemplate without getting lost in too much worrying and fear-based thinking. Which makes the most sense from a logical perspective? Map them out and get as clear of an idea as possible for what your steps forward would look like.
Step 4: And then, once you have pulled both of these wonderful assets of yours –your intuition and your brain– to the table, make your choice that most satisfies both.
Not every choice will always feel 100% right on all levels, but go with what feels best. Trust yourself and know that most often, you can and will have to course-correct down the road.
Trust your resourcefulness.
Ask for help when you need it.
And stay optimistic 😉
You got this!
Warmly,
Caroline