There are those times in life when you just have a “sense” that something isn’t right.  A “gut feeling”.  Is that feeling caused by an internal intuition, anxiety or simply something that our body and mind are telling us something feels a bit “off”?  The basic question would be whether you should trust that gut feeling.  Is it real or is it even healthy to listen to?

There is a definite difference between intuition and a gut feeling.  Neither of those are anxiety driven.  Anxiety comes from a long standing situation while the other two come from an immediate situation at hand.  According to Therapist Gillian Dalgliesh, Intuition is the exact opposite of gut feeling.  Gut feeling is about survival – doing whatever is necessary to keep us safe and alive in an immediate situation.  It’s connected with fearful and reactive behaviour. Intuition is a higher level of consciousness – a capacity to sense things and to create wise choices for healthy change.  Intuition isn’t about survival.  If an immediate situation arises that creates a reactive feeling (gut instinct), that doesn’t mean not to listen to it.  A gut instinct that is investigated can bring about the knowledge of intuition for future situations.  You can not guarantee that your gut instinct is correct each time.  Taking a bit of time  to listen to it however and learn how to react positively to those types of instincts may become very reliable for you.

If you have taken the time to learn your body, mind and spirit –  your gut instinct is something that you may begin to listen to each time.  At the very least investigate that feeling.  There is the saying “You can not put a square peg in a round hole” without a lot of manipulation.  If a situation arises that requires repeated review or manipulation those are red flags and you should listen and investigate.  Red flags do happen for a reason.  They are life’s warning signals that something is extraordinarily out of order. Why is that peg not fitting in that hole.  You may discover you have the wrong peg or were using the wrong hole.  You may also discover that the situation simply is a square peg and round hole and should be avoided.

Do take that time to listen, investigate and learn the best way for you to proceed.  This will help you make wise healthy choices in the future.  It will also minimize reactive decisions that may squash your trust of your own gut feeling in the future.