Have you ever felt like you have lost your way?  Have you ever been faced with a decision that you truly didn’t want to make?  Or that you were afraid to make?  Or that you really just didn’t even want to face?

I have.  I use to have a very difficult time making decisions.  I was afraid to decide because the outcome was so unsure.  If I choose option A, what will happen?   But choosing option B could cause this……

I would turn to everyone around me for advice.  My parents, friends, and co-workers would do the best they could.  But, no one can make a decision for you.  You are the only one who knows what is right for you.

There is a simple solution to this dilemma.  You need to turn inside.  You need to find your inner GPS. 

The Power of Intuition

We all come totally equipped with our very own GPS.  It’s called your intuition.  It is that small, still voice that is inside of you.  It is the voice that quietly nudges you in the right direction.

Your intuition never leads you astray.  Your intuition always knows the right answer.  Decisions wouldn’t be so difficult if you would only just listen.

You experience intuition in a variety of ways.  Some people hear their intuition.  Others have a feeling.  While still others just have a knowing.  For me, I just have a knowing of what the right move is. 

Developing Your Intuition

The thing about intuition is that you need to develop it.  It is like a muscle.  The more you use it, the stronger it will be.

I think that the first step in developing your intuition is to actually set the intention that you want to rely on it.  You want to engage this sixth sense. 

Next, take the time to actually listen.  Spend quiet time just observing your thoughts.  Many times, we are so busy that we can’t even hear ourselves think.  Take a few moments everyday to just be still and centered.

Once you have learned to center yourself, begin with a few easy things.  Ask yourself, “which way should I drive to work today”?  Listen for the answer and follow. 

Once you take action and start actually trusting your messages, you will be able to use your intuition on larger issues.  Decisions just won’t be the same.  Your life will get easier and easier. 

So many times we try to control everything in our lives.  We want to control our spouses, our children, our friends, and our careers.  There is no chance for change.  We want to know everything that is going to happen.

When you try to control every aspect of your life, you lose the opportunity for something even more wonderful to come to you.  You think you have a plan, but the truth is, there is a greater plan.  And you don’t know how it will play out.

My own life provides a great example.  I was working as an esthetician and I was making good money.  The problem was that it was a very toxic environment.  I wanted to control it and I fought to stay there even though I knew deep down that I should leave.  The universe “forced” me to leave that career.  The way came in the form of an injury.  The doctors told me that I should never return to that line of work.  Secretly, I was so happy.

If I would have just trusted in my own intuition and trusted that the universe always provides, I would have been able to leave earlier.  I would have learned the lesson easier.

Trusting the universe is taking a step out in faith.  You take the step even though you don’t see the safety net.  You follow the divine guidance and believe that it will all be fine. 

What is your next step? 

You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition.  What you’ll discover will be wonderful.  What you’ll discover is yourself.

~Alan Alda~

Following your intuition is an adventure.  You never know what is coming next.  It isn’t your job to know what comes next, it is the job of the universe.  You simply need to be aware, listen, and follow the guidance.

Most of you are use to searching outside of yourself for the answers.  When you have a dilemma, you talk to your mother, your co-worker, and your best friend.  The problem with this is that all of these people can only tell you what would be right for them.   They don’t know what is right for you.

It isn’t always comfortable to look within for the answers.  It can be scary and no one likes the feeling of fear.  The thing you have to realize is that you are coming from a false safety. The only reason that it feels safe to ask advice from others is that it is familiar.

The truth is, what could be safer than being guided by the universe?  Truly knowing and believing that the universe is always working with your best interests in mind, eliminates the fear. You are completely safe and always taken care of.

Go ahead, trust in yourself.  Trust in the universe!

Have you ever been faced with a situation in which you need some guidance.  You have asked everyone you know and no one has anything helpful to tell you.  Actually, you know that the answer is within and searching outside is just a waste of time.

The problem is that you keep praying and you keep sitting quietly.  And what do you hear? NOTHING!  Your intuition is not speaking to you.  You can’t hear the small voice within.  God is not leaving you messages.

How Do You Hear Your Intuition?

• First, you need to take a break from the searching, from the panic.  You need to take a step back and look at the situation differently.  What buttons are being pushed?  Is there something that needs to be healed here emotionally? 
• Know that you are in the perfect place right where you are.  Everything happens for a reason and you have created whatever it is that you are going through to learn.  God doesn’t make mistakes.
• Allow the answer to come.  When you stop pushing for the answer and be in a state of allowing, it will come.  It isn’t on your time schedule, it’s on the divine time schedule.
• Recognize the answer when it comes.  You never know how you will receive your answer.  It might come as a feeling or a hunch.  It might also come as a message on a billboard that really speaks to you.  Someone on the street might tell you something that makes sense.  Be open.

Whatever the answer is and however it comes, be ready to receive it.  And make sure that when you finally do hear your intuition speaking, honor it.  Follow that guidance.

I have noticed that a lot of women have a hard time making decisions.  I hear time and time again, “I just don’t make decisions well” or “I don’t want to decide”.  Is the reason that we as women don’t make decisions well because we really can’t decide or because we don’t believe we deserve we can have what we want?

Struggle with Decision-Making

Today I want to focus on the first reason, not knowing how to make a decision.  I have found myself struggling with decision-making for most of my life.  The reasons varied from not wanting to hurt some one’s feelings to not trusting that I would make the right decision.  I never wanted to “screw up” and regret the choices that I was making. 

Choices weighed heavily on my mind and I found that it created a lot of extra stress in my life.  I just sort of went along with the way life was “suppose to ” go.  The only thing that does is put you in a box that you will eventually want to get out of.  I have decided that I need to find a new process for making decisions.  I have found one that works great for me.  I hope it can work for you too.

Steps for Better Decision-Making

1. Go within for the answers.  Instead of asking for advice or going by the social norm, go within for the answers.  Spend some quiet time with yourself and you will surely “know” what is right.
2. Trust yourself.  After you have found the answer you need, trust that it is right.  This might be hard to do, but on some level you already know that it is the right choice.
3. Let go of what everyone else thinks.  Your parents and friends don’t know what is right for you.  Society doesn’t know what is right for you.  Only you have the answers.  When you can start living for you instead of everyone else, then you can find true happiness and contentment.  You are only responsible for you.
4. Make the decision and stick to it.  Instead of wavering and going back, take a stand.  Stick by the decision you make. 

Start with something small that doesn’t make a big difference in your life.  Maybe you can decide what restaurant to go to or what color to paint the kitchen.  Neither one is life-altering and you will survive if you don’t like the choice you make.  Soon you will move on with ease to the bigger decisions.