I think when we are young we find ourselves seeking out more often the voices of our peers, our elders, and society to guide us. These voices turn into our own personal advice on how we should proceed with our lives, our career choices, or even what love looks like. Even in my 30s (and I am so young with so much more to learn) I have realized the power of our intuition, our inner voice. The voice that says “you only want this job because it will make you feel important” or the voice that says “you shouldn’t marry this man, you are rushing into this”.
Many of the troubles we find ourselves in throughout our lives stem from the inner voice we didn’t listen to. We know all too well the aftermath of a bad decision, it sounds like “I knew something wasn’t right but…”. As you grow in life, as you mature and realize who you are and where you want to go, your inner voice becomes louder and stronger. That doesn’t mean that we are always keen to listen. Our inner voice knows where we want to be and combined with the knowledge we have and the experiences we’ve been through it gives us the direction we need to keep us in the direction we want to go.
But why don’t we listen? – Emotion
In this part of my life I often say feelings are fleeting. You can’t rely on your feelings to make important decisions. Joyce Meyer describes feelings like a sparkler, bright and short lived. Have you ever woke up in the morning with the intent of having a great day only to be pissed and ready to quit your job within the first 2 hours? We often find ourselves struggling between what we “feel” is the right decision and what is actually the practical decision. Ladies we are culpable for being in this position when it comes to relationships and marriage. I have watched strong, beautiful, amazing women keep themselves in relationships that were toxic and wasteful for them because of how they felt. I myself have been guilty of this before. When you are young, I think a lot of things are a learning process – something you must go through and get through to know what you need and want. But when you’re at a certain part in your life, I feel that we should know better. This is where your inner voice comes in.
Your inner voice doesn’t feel, it’s directing you off of your reality and facts. There are many career options I’ve wanted to pursue over the years that, when honest with myself, I realized were not for the right reasons. I know people who have taken on jobs at places for the money and not because it’s what their passionate about. Maybe what you’re passionate about won’t make you rich but you’ll be happy. What’s your price on happiness?
Ladies we are distracted. In a society where we must be all to everyone (the cleaner, the chef, the lover, the mother, etc.) we allow ourselves – despite our inner voice – to become so overwhelmed with all that is around because we feel we have to. We then lose who we really are for who we feel we need to be and we find ourselves exhausted and unhappy. We make excuses for this by saying that we live for our kids or as long as they are happy I am happy. These are lies. If we could pause for a day and breathe, if we could ask ourselves what we truly want and where do we want to go, what would that look like for you? I know, it’s not that easy right? But it is actually.
The strongest people I know are the ones who know who they are and what they want. The most peaceful, happy, and successful people I know will not accept anything less than that. Our inner voice is powerful when we choose to listen. It is who we are and what we want telling us where we need to go. When something doesn’t feel right we should pause and think it over or say no. When the facts are laid out before us but our “feelings” aren’t ready we should heed to the facts, for the obvious reason that the facts will not change but feelings will.
Another issue with our inner voice is trusting it. Sometimes we find ourselves in a cloudy situation where the decisions that have to be made are not easy ones. Maybe they are all wrapped up in feelings and what if’s. In almost all that we do we create an idea of what we think is going to happen or how something is going to go. If it doesn’t go the way you thought, doubt can creep in and make you feel like you made the wrong decision. Your intuition does not come with promises for the future, it’s simply your inner guide helping you choose. At times the results may seem negative only to show the benefits later on. Trust yourself, trust that despite what your current situation looks or feel like, that you have made the right decision for yourself and will see the benefits when the time comes.
Trapped inside our inner voice are all of our dreams, our plans, our needs and our true desires. When we allow ourselves to be the best that we can be only then can we be the best for everyone around us. Make time daily to check in with yourself. Be honest with yourself. Be honest about who and want brings value to your life and who and what needs to go. Taking care of yourself and listening to your inner needs is not selfishness – don’t let anyone tell you any different. When was the last time you listened to yourself? Maybe you’ll need to overhaul your whole life, maybe you’ll need to change just a few things – it’s all there waiting for you to listen, just trust yourself. ❤
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