I am a true believer in spiritual guidance. Even before I totally identified what my spirit was doing I could feel it.
To clarify, one doesn’t need to subscribe to any particular religious doctrine to have a spirit. Although my spirit led me to a personal relationship with God, it didn’t just show up when I became a Christian.
Many non-Christian religions also recognize the power of the spirit. Suffice it to say that regardless of any specific belief system or rejection thereof, everyone has a spirit that seeks to guide them.
Some people are more comfortable calling it intuition or a gut feeling. For this discussion, it’s all the same thing.
It’s the part of me outside of my conscious mind that knows what brings me peace. The issue is that like many of us I ignored it for years.
I had a plan and I liked my plan. Listening to the inner rumblings that were whispering, then speaking, and finally screaming at me to alter that plan was too unpredictable to consider.
As I’ve learned to recognize the leading of my spirit I realize it does not care about my agenda. It wants me to be at peace and it knows my plans are not always the best way to achieve that.
The thing about being tuned in to my spirit is it makes things simple and complicated at the same time. In theory, one thinks having innate direction would make decision making, and life in general, so much easier. Not necessarily.
It is tempting to override my intuition with logic. The thing I have to remember is my spirit and my logic don’t always hang out in the same neighborhood.
Logic told me to get a Master’s in Public Health when I decided to re-launch my healthcare career in health promotion and wellness advocacy. Public health would be a perfectly respectable transition from clinical practice.
My spirit reminded me I really like making connections with individuals and seeing the direct results of my involvement. Following my intuition turned me into a personal trainer and a life coach.
I fully recognize that to many people personal training and life coaching are perceived as made-up services for rich people. Thus, it was a harder to convince my logical self that this was the right move for a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist.
Ironically, it’s when I finally made that completely illogical decision that I felt most at peace as an adult. That’s how I know I was actually following my spirit.
The more I’ve learned to trust the guidance of my spirit the happier and more productive I’ve become. It really increases my efficiency when I don’t have to start the day reminding myself again why I’m doing this.
As someone who spent over twenty years from high school through residency training focusing on science and data, my tendency is to overthink my spirit’s leading. Of course, that scientific background also makes me respect results.
Anyone who knows me can attest that I always logically evaluate the facts when making decisions. However, to make the proper final call I need to check in with my spirit. Ties go to the spirit, because it is always right.
My logic takes me down roads that appear correct to others, but my spirit always leads me on the proper path for me. The only way I maintain my sense of well-being is by giving it the respect it deserves.
Do you struggle to trust your intuition? What are the reasons you use to override it?
If you would like help balancing your logic and your spirit, please click here to request an Essence of Strength sample coaching conversation.
Dr Jattu Senesie is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, certified success coach, physician satisfaction specialist and speaker. She blogs about issues of self care and well-being in an effort to help her fellow altruistic high achievers find satisfaction in their success as early in their careers as possible.
