26 October 2021

We all are born with a certain amount of natural intuition. The problem is, from a noticeably early age we are often told to ignore our feelings or that our feelings just do not matter. Much like force-feeding an infant can cause the child to start ignoring their natural hunger control mechanism, it is the same with emotions. The more we have been taught to push down our feelings and ignore them, the more likely we are not to trust our natural emotions. 

You Get a Feeling in Your Gut That Something Is Wrong

Everyone has a natural ability to know if something is not right in any given situation. The problem is, over time you may have ignored those feelings as felt they were wrong or even crazy. You meet a new person and for no known reason you feel like something is off. You talk to someone and believe they are lying. While you may not want to react on these instances that are not cause for immediate danger, keep an open mind, and keep your eyes open. Chances are you will find out that you are right more than you are wrong. 

The Hairs on the Back of Your Neck Stand Up

Every human is born with a “flight or fight” effect. Sometimes the hairs on the back of your neck will stand up, or you get prickly and want to run. Most of the time, you should pay attention to this feeling. Often, you will find that when you feel that way a spider is nearby, or you are in physical danger. Do not ignore these nagging feelings, ever. Even if you are wrong, it is best to be safe.

You Feel a Tug to Help Someone

T.V. commercials use these trigger-emotions when they want you to send money to save the starving children in Africa or donate to save abused animals. The feelings you feel when watching those commercials are normal and you should respect them. When you feel compelled to help people in your immediate zone, do not push it down. Freely offering your help is a wonderful way to make you feel better in yourself as well as helping others who do need some true help.

You Feel Pulled to Do Something Different

You are sitting in your workplace bored wanting desperately to do something different to the normal, but you are afraid to change because you are afraid of the repercussions. If you feel pulled in a new direction, take the time to give it some real consideration instead of immediately dismissing it. As an example, Bill Gates did not allow nagging doubt to stop him from becoming so successful in becoming the co-founder of Microsoft.

You Feel Confident in Your Abilities

When you are feeling confident, do not smother those feelings by putting the fire out. You have a right to feel good about what you are doing and to feel capable. When you feel good about yourself it is not misplaced pride or bragging. So often, people (especially women) are taught from an early age not to boast about their abilities. This puts young women at a disadvantage from their male counterparts when it comes to jobs and fair pay. Allow yourself to feel confident when it is appropriate and let the crowd know so by displaying your confidence by doing something worthwhile.

Make Your Environment Comfortable

Emotions need a safe environment to be felt fully. You are your own best friend. Only you can create the right environment that is safe for you to feel the emotions that you have. Make your home safe for yourself and safe for your entire family. As Dr. Phil says, “home should be a safe place to fall.”

Acknowledge the Different Emotions You Experience

Do not push aside the emotions that you have about drugs, alcohol, or food. Instead, allow yourself to experience a full range of emotions as appropriate. Of course, you do have to show some measure of self-control in public, but you can express appropriate emotions in appropriate places as they come to you.

Try to Name the Emotions Others Are Having

In order to improve your capacity for empathy, practice naming and expressing the emotions that other people are having. People can show great empathy to others. Even if a person has not gone through a certain situation themselves, they have much happier lives than those who cannot relate to other human beings at all. You do not have to be homeless yourself to understand how truly demoralising the experience is as a homeless person.

Write Down Your Feelings

Keep a feelings journal for yourself to help you process different feelings that you are having, and different feelings that you note that other people have about situations in life. Your journal can help you work through emotions in a healthy way, as well as give you something to look back at when you are having trouble.

Assess Your Judgment Accuracy and Go for It

If you are afraid to go with your gut instincts due to not having listened to it before, then pick one thing to evaluate. For example, if you feel like you need to switch jobs, start job hunting in earnest. It will not hurt to go on some job interviews to test your intuition. You might find the job of a lifetime. Or if you feel strange, such as running from a situation, go ahead and do it. 

As you learn to trust your emotions by practicing in actually feeling them, you will get better at discerning what is right and wrong more quickly much more naturally.