Fortunately for you, this post is not about my digestive system…
…but is about how I followed my intuition even though it went against the grain, and things worked out for the best.
The photo above was taken at our local shops! Ten minutes walk from our house. I found it on a Melbourne newspaper’s website, the day a huge wind storm hit most of the state (Victoria, Australia), earlier this year.
I had arranged to go to my mother’s place that day. She lives in the country, about two hour’s drive from Melbourne, and I always stay the night if I visit. I usually go two nights a week, and without going into details, I feel I need to get there.
The day before, I didn’t want to go. The thought of it was draining—I felt listless at the very idea. I contemplated canceling, but I felt my mother needed me. (I might say here that my sister lives near Mum and does the lion’s share of daughterly assistance.)
A windy day
The day dawned and I still didn’t want to go. My partner Frank was suggesting I cancel. Mum had even rung the night before and said the weather forecast was really bad, with wind warnings for the country roads, so I might want to put it off, but I said “oh no, of course I’ll come!”
Frank and I started the day in our usual way, by walking down to the local shops for some latte sipping at a corner cafe. It was a little bit windy, but nothing exceptional. When we got home I rang Mum and cancelled—I knew I didn’t want to go, and I decided to respect that. It wasn’t because of the weather forecast, which I hadn’t seen myself.
Next followed several hours of wind mayhem. Frank and I cowered inside, looking out the windows in amazement. The internet was throwing up readers’ photos of fallen trees, and we discovered THREE large trees had blown over at our local shops, at about 3 pm. After things quietened down at about 6 pm, we went for a walk to the shops to check things out—here’s a photo Frank took of the scene we found:
Incidentally, here’s another photo I found on the newspaper’s website… the wind had actually brought a dust storm to Melbourne as well as lots of damage, but we didn’t get it on our side of the city. You can just make out the city buildings through the orange dust (the bathing boxes in the foreground are at Brighton Beach).
Off to Mum’s
The next day I drove up to Mum’s… quite happily, with no tug-of-war in my head. I drove up the highway, rather than the back road I usually travel on for the last 25 minutes of the journey. It turned out the back road had had quite a few trees down—to drive along it the day before would have been plain dangerous.
Here’s a photo of the back road—it’s very pretty, but not the best place to be in a windstorm (when I drove along it a week later, there were still some trees lying half on the road):
Of course if I had actually made the trip the day before, I probably would have taken the highway instead (or taken shelter), but it has trees along it, too, and the trip wouldn’t have been much fun.
Intuition
It was really interesting to me that I was so willing to go to Mum’s that next day. I felt this was showing me that my reservations hadn’t been for any reasons other than that my intuition was saying DON”T GO.
I work with the idea that intuition doesn’t tell us why we want to do or not do things, it just tells us what to do. We can’t know why, we can only trust things will work out for the best if we follow it. To put it another way, it speaks to us through our guts, not our head (perhaps this post is about my digestive system after all). And we can trust that we will always go in the best direction for ourselves and everyone else if we allow ourselves to be guided by it.
The challenge, of course, is to be able to do just that.
What do you think? Have you had a situation where you followed your intuition, even though it seemed the “wrong” thing to do, and things worked out for the best? OR… have you not acted on intuitive impulses, because it was not the “right” thing to do, and later wished you had?
photos of tree on car and dust storm from The Age
When I was first married, my husband and I were heading up to the cottage. I put my hand on the apartment door knob to close the door and I looked at him in horror, and he looked at me the same way. I said “We can’t go!” and he said “I know!”, but then we told each other we were being silly. We went and were in a car accident.
I used to go against my intuitive voice and it was always a mistake. Now I always listen to it and act upon it no matter how irrational it may seem. I don’t question it; it simply is.
Urban Panthers last blog post..Creativity the MacGyver way
As much as I like logic and facts, I do often follow my intuition, especially when it comes to people. So far, I haven’t regretted the decisions I made based on intuition.
What a storm. I never witnessed something like that.
Hi Robin – Looking at those photos, I think it’s just as well you followed your intuition.
If I’m planning to go somewhere and my intuition is telling me not to, I almost always listen to it now. I’ve ignored it in the past and had some pretty bad things happen to me.
I learn throughout the years to follow my wife’s intuition…Mine on the other hand is not so good as history has proven it.
Intuition – yes, it’s a good thing! Memory – mine – not so good (I guess) – I’m coming up blank with examples of when it’s worked – but I know it has… Like Chris, I think my wife’s intuition is better than mine – maybe women have better intuition??
Lances last blog post..Sunday Thought For The Day
My husband’s intuition saved us from a tornado, so we are big believers in listening to it, honoring it, and honing it. As a karate instructor, I believe it is the first line of self defense. We’ve learned to listen to it even for mundane things, and it has never steered us wrong. It does take awhile to figure out what is intuition and what is wishful thinking, or fear, or whatever.
SpaceAgeSage — Loris last blog post..Diagnosis: Amnesia — and we all have it!
Hi Robin. That was quite a windstorm! Reminds me of the one we had almost 2 years ago where so many trees in Stanley Park were lost.
I’m confused by the whole intuition thing. I believe in listening to it. My confusion is around when to tell the difference between whether it is my intuition or I’m just being a scaredy cat. Reason being is that there have been times when I have ignored my gut and nothing bad happened anyway. Maybe I have some guardian angels to thank for that.
Davinas last blog post..Awakening To A Balanced Life
@Urban Panther – that’s a great story!
@Vered – I reckon all successful people follow their intuition in many areas of their life – so I am not surprised.
@Cath – It’s a learning process, isn’t it.
@Chris – that’s interesting – I have learned to take Frank’s intuition into account more, since we have been together.
@Lance – I’ve got lots of instances I can’t remember, too. I think it just takes practice to get good at using it.
@Lori – I like that:”honoring and honing”. It has taken me a while to get to where I am now with it, too.
@Davina – Maybe you have! I really think it takes a while for most people to sort intuition out, as Lori said above.
My wife and I are pretty intuitive people, so we don’t need any convincing to listen to our intentions. That doesn’t mean that we always do — especially when our intuition doesn’t explain itself. We’re both capably of highly logical thinking, too, which sometimes gets in the way.
I’ve learned to sleep on important decisions. Intuitive, to me, does not equal impulsiveness — quite to the contrary, I need to sit with it for a while before figuring out what it says.
ari
Ari Koinumas last blog post..8 Secrets That Help If Your Loved One Suffers from Depression
Oh my goodness…what a storm! I am so glad that you followed your intuition! Increasingly, I am learning how to set aside my questioning mind and just follow my gut. Not an easy exercise for me to accomplish! But getting there!
Evelyn Lims last blog post..I Dreamed I Was A Butterfly
Hi Robin: I’m glad you decided to follow your intuition. Once I was in a department store with a ground floor and another level below. I was going down the stairs of the store and all of a sudden I just stopped for no reason. At that moment a huge, heavy box fell from the top floor and fell right in front of me. If I had taken one more step instead of stopping it would have hit me on the head.
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Trusting intuition is vital to me! I have made some bad choices when I don’t follow what “feels” right. To me the key of intuition is: knowing. NOT understanding…but knowing. There is a difference. Great post!
Carolines last blog post..Stop and smell the roses…
@Ari – it’s not always the impulsive reaction, is it!
@Evelyn – it takes practice, doesn’t it!
@Marelisa – what an incredible story!
@Caroline – hi there and welcome! Knowing IS different from understanding with our minds, isn’t it.
What a coincidence. My recent post was something similar!
Anyway, glad to hear that you managed to steer clear of harms way.
Shamelle-TheEnhanceLifes last blog post..The 5 Emotions That Drag Us Down Or Shape Our Destiny
I rely a lot on intuition when it comes to meeting new people. My intuition drives me to certain people that (somehow) need to be in my life.
Stacey / Create a Balances last blog post..How Do You Practice the Art of Life Balance?
P.S. > My picture is now appearing! Thanks for your help. 🙂
Stacey / Create a Balances last blog post..How Do You Practice the Art of Life Balance?
Hi,
I have not left any comments on your blog because I am always so busy, but when I got an award yesterday and needed to pass it on to blogs I like, yours was one of the blogs I chose. I like your title and your post about create a balance. Don’t we all need that. Anyway if you like awards go to my blog and pass it on.
Take Care,
Janet 🙂
Janet Gardners last blog post..The Esoterical Journey: I got the Uber Amazing Blog Award
Intuition is not as strange or as ‘out there’ as we may think. We all have it, and the more we are awake to it, the more in tune we will be. Those who pay more attention to their intuition are certainly more intuitive than those who dont. That is why some people are able to predict events and experiences, it is because they are more in tune with their intuition. To me intuition, is tapping into that field which is always omnipresent and always there to guide us. We can foster intuition through meditation or appreciation and also simply recognising its presence.
Thank you for the interesting post Robin!
I’m so sorry to hear about the mishaps. But am sure glad that you had the and followed your intuition.
striders last blog post..Wordless Wednesday: It Can be Solved!
@Davina, Evelyn, and all:
Books that have helped my intuition are
http://tinyurl.com/5hma7w
Dr. Marcia Emery’s Intuition Workbook: An Expert’s Guide to Unlocking the Wisdom of Your Subconscious Mind (Paperback)
and
http://tinyurl.com/66ngxa
Decipher Your Dreams, Decipher Your Life, by Tianna Galgano
@Shamelle – hi there – it’s a universal topic, isn’t it.
@Stacey – good stuff – nice to see your face now!
@Janet – THANKYOU! I LOVE awards, but I feel too awful about choosing who to give them to, to pass them on. Thanks again.
@Sharon – I think it’s there for all of us to tap into, too. Thanks!
@strider – hello and welcome! – it makes life run more smoothly, that’s for sure.
@Lori – Thanks for the info!
Hi Robin
I always listen to my intuition where it concerns decision making and people, and I have had many near misses and lucky escapes to prove that mine 6th sense is well honed. I once canceled a teenage weekend away with some friends at the very last minute for no good reason other than something felt off. It was a very difficult thing to do at the time because everyone was very angry with me for bailing and as a teen I was worried I’d be ostracized for it. But as it turns out I may have saved my life as one of the cars from our group was involved in a head on collision with a tree – speeding – and most of the people in the vehicle died.
That and some other events have ensured I trust my gut more than pretty much anything.
Kelly
I have a friend who was scheduled to attend a meeting in one of towers in the WTC on 9/11. The day before, he has a very strong urge not to go and couldn’t explain the strange feeling. Thankfully, he canceled his attendance.
My experiences are usually on a smaller scale – the small day-to-day decisions in life.
Carlas last blog post..Cautious or paranoid? Finding balance with green living
Hi Robin,
When I hear stories like this it ALWAYS brings to mind a childhood experience I had. I was living in NYC and was about 13 and it was my 1/2 week at my dad’s place. My dad was instructed NEVER to enter my room before 11AM or bear the wrath of a hormonal under-rested teenager. He came in at 10AM that morning and told me he was going to a vintage record store in the village – that they had one copy left of an album he had been searching for and did I want to come? This usually would have been met with grumbles and me covering my head under the covers but something inside me said “Get up, LEAVE — you need to go with him”. I rarely had SUCH a sense of KNOWING what to do so I jumped on it. When we returned my dad’s apartment was robbed and ransacked. We had not been gone long. If I was there I would have been in the middle of a robbery since my room was in the back and they would not have known anyone was in the apt. If ever I start to “doubt or question” my intuition I remind myself of that story and I quickly understand it is not my ego that knows best!
Thank you for this great post! I am going to explore more — your blog is filled with goodness! Uh oh — my intuition tells me hours will be gone before I know it! 🙂
Love, Jenny
whoa that was some storm. the wind always amazes me in the things that it can pick up or up root. the elements deserve respect.
glad you were able to make the trip another day. the picture of the road with the trees is awesome Robin. It looks like the calm after the storm.
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I live in a area known as “tornado valley.” We have these crazy storms that appear out of no where. I have trusted my instincts many times before. I really believe that they do exist within a person. I have the same emotion many times with my children. I guess if we are connected with life itself and not just going through the emotions sometimes these “warnings” will jump out at us.
Tammy Warrens last blog post..What have you been up to?
Intuition! Yes! I had an incident this week, yesterday.
I missed an appointment, an interview!
I decided not to become a windstorm to get there on time, whereby damaging any breathing patterns, relationships or anything else being in a hurried stressful rush can do. Instead, I happened on another opportunity, or lead from a friend I saw on the way.
Neat!
I’m glad you didn’t go! You have many more blogs to write!
Shannon
Shannons last blog post..Sat-Nov 8 The Tea Grotto-from 7-9pm
@Kelly – It must have been horrifying at the time (it would be the incident you have mentioned before? – I’m so sorry). I’m glad you have such good survival instincts – that you can trust.
@Carla – Hi there and welcome! That’s great about your small decisions woerking for you – that’s more how I find it. I remember hearing a few similar stories about 9/11.
@Jenny – welcome to you too! What an amazing story – and thankyou so much for your kind words!
@Natural – it’s a beautiful road – the picture doesn’t really do it justice, but whenever I’m driving along it, I don’t really want to stop to take a picture.
@Tammy – hi there – I only found out about tornado alley recently when I had to write some books about the weather – amazing stuff. I like the way you put it about being “connected with life itself” – helping us trust our instinct – great!
@Shannon – Great story! It’s wonderful the way things turn out if we go with the flow, isn’t it!
The horrifying photograph. Also happened in many other places in this world. Perhaps, our earth was angry.
tiknos last blog post..Money For Nothing But For Financial Crisis
Dear robin, great photos. I like that picture of the tree who hit the car. What an accident!
Thank you for bringing some pictures of your life. For european eyes it is very interesting… Happy blogging
rainers last blog post..Ladybug
Robin
Actually this is not an incident I’ve mentioned before. Unfortunately, I’ve been surrounded by a lot of early deaths in my life and I’ve had quite a few near misses over the years. I think I have a very powerful angel looking out for me 🙂
Previously I talked about how my stepbrother was killed in a car accident, but that was a separate event and I was living away from home at the time.
Kelly
Kelly@SHE-POWERs last blog post..What is Life Balance & is it Achievable for Everyone?
Robin,
Interesting question. I’ve had many moments of strong unease. Usually just before being witness to/almost being in an auto accident. As I pass the scene, I take a deep breath and think, ah, THAT was it. And my mind is entirely calm.
Very strange! G.
@Tikno – hi there – there are lots of strange weather happenings in the world, aren’t there?
@rainer – hi Ray – the photo was very dramatic for us, it being in “our” area. Maybe I should put more local pics in!
@Kelly – you must indeed have a diligent guardian angel!
@Grace – hi there Grace – it’s interesting the way you say your mind is very calm afterwards – as though it is the experience of being extra in touch with your intuition that has put you in that space?
I definitely trust my intuition, but only when IT comes to me. If I find I need to think things over & then the answer comes to me, then it’s not intuition. Intuition happens in an instant & is pretty harsh! If you close your eyes & tune in, more details will often come to light. I wonder what the difference is between intuition & psychic ability? We may all be incredibly psychic but aren’t practiced at tuning in. Ask your Mum, I bet she’s got some amazing stories to tell about intuition!!