“Intuition and Trusting Faith – Letting go of the need for certainty” is the fifth guidepost for Wholehearted living that Brené Brown identified in her research (Daring Greatly, 2012, p. 9). Letting go of the need for certainty is a practice that’s always useful, but especially now. There is so much that is uncertain – Will I get the Coronavirus? How long will social distancing be necessary? When will the kids be able to go back to school? When can we go back to work, or return to working alongside our colleagues? Any and all of these unknowns can be a major source of stress.
In the Academy Award-winning film Parasite (2019, Korean, story and direction: Bong Joon-ho), the father tells his son that the perfect plan is no plan at all, because life always turns out differently than your plan. When we let go of our expectations, the potential for disappointment and suffering is greatly reduced. A little less suffering right now sounds really good! So, how can intuition and trusting faith help?
Intuition
Intuition is the ability to understand something immediately, or quick insight, without the need for conscious reasoning or perception (Google, April 27, 2020). “Learning how to listen to your own intuitive voice is one of the most important acts of self-care you can do” (Intuition: The Owner’s Manual You Were Born With, https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog ).
There are several ways in which intuition is available to us. It may make itself known through visual images or symbols, colors, shapes, things we see in our mind’s eye or that show up in actual form (clairvoyance or clear seeing). Intuition may speak to us in sounds or words or through voices. These are examples of clairaudience or clear hearing. It might also make itself known as a felt sense or “gut instinct” about something or someone, like getting “goose bumps” or having your hair stand on end. This is clairsentience or clear sensing – the awareness of knowing. And, there is claircognizance, or a clear, deep knowing that doesn’t come from thinking, analyzing, or reasoning – you just know.
“If you want the truth, I’ll tell you the truth. Listen to the secret sound, the real sound, which is inside you.”
Intuition is an innate human capacity; however, that doesn’t mean we are good at listening to and trusting our intuition – developing our intuitive capacities requires attention and practice. And we can experiment and play with intuition. We can start by paying attention to what we see in our mind’s eye or what signs show up in our environment. We can listen to the wisdom within, rather than always seeking answers outside of ourselves. We can lean on our felt sense or inner knowing of what decision to make or action to take.
You might use the following questions for reflection or journal prompts:
· In what situation(s) have you been aware of some type of inner knowing or insight?
· How did your intuition show up – images, sounds/words/voices, a felt sense or gut instinct, or did you just know something without being able to explain it?
· When has your intuition served you?
· In what ways might you experiment with and practice accessing your intuition?
Faith
Faith is a strong belief or trust in someone or something (www.merriam-webster.com, dictionary: faith). Sometimes faith is confidence in what is unseen, such as a benevolent guiding force or something or someone greater than ourselves at work, and things are evolving as they are meant to. This unseen force or presence might be called God or the Divine or some version thereof, the Universe, or Love. Whatever we know it as, we can lean on it, particularly in times of uncertainty.
“All it takes is Faith and Trust.”
We can trust that we will find the internal and external resources to meet the challenges that arise. We can have faith that things will work out without having to know how they will unfold. When we trust faith, there is a letting go of control, a surrender of sorts. And with that comes a feeling of less burden, less pressure to steer every process or manage every outcome. A little bit of faith can go a long way – faith the size of a grain of a mustard seed can move mountains, or so it’s been said.
You might consider:
· In what and whom do you trust and have faith?
· In what ways can you be more trustworthy or inspire trust in others?
· What would it be like to bring more trust into your life, and feel like you didn’t need to control everything?
· What would allow you to be able to bring in more trust – in the Universe, in the people around you, in yourself?
In a time when we have more questions than answers, choose the questions that have the most meaning for you. And, it’s o.k. not to know the answers and to “sit with” uncertainty.
Today I’m asking myself:
· Where can I let go of the need for certainty and control – in relationships? life? work?
· What difference might listening to my intuition and trusting faith make for myself and others?
Resources
Brown, Brené (2012). Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. New York, NY: Gotham Books.
Neil, Stacey (July 3, 2014). Intuition: The Owner’s Manual You Were Born With. https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog
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