I'm wondering in your experience, how do you know that you know something?
Is it a feeling you get? Is it a thought you have that just doesn't leave your mind? Do you notice signs that all seem to point you in a particular direction? Do you get a prayerful revelation?
Our word of the week: intuition is often cited as why we know something in particular.
Intuition: the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning.
Maybe you know that you are going to a get a job even though you haven't applied for it yet. Or maybe you know that you just aren't going to have children, though everyone around you does. Maybe you know that a pain in your body is going to lead to a long road to treatment. You just know.
But have you ever thought about relationship intuition?
I bet you know someone with a story who saw a person from across the room and "knew that one day they'd marry them" and they did!
Here, though I'm talking about something deeper.
How do you use your intuition to help you build a richer, more meaningful life?
I believe this: your intuition, if you pay attention to it will lead you every time to the people who you need and the people who need you.
It can mean realizing that you need to allow space in your life for a new friend-- even if you think your friend card is full.
It can mean realizing there's a particular friend you need to invest in deeper by texting her back when she writes you.
It can mean realizing that a window of opportunity is yours for the taking when you hear an announcement about a new group starting.
You see, you are not meant to be in close community with everyone. Or everyone's best friend. But there are those in life who are your people! Sometimes the hardest work of all is to say "yes" to relationships that are already right in front of us.
I love the wisdom of Brene Brown who writes “Our stories are not meant for everyone. Hearing them is a privilege, and we should always ask ourselves this before we share: "Who has earned the right to hear my story?"
Our job, our only job then is to listen and to open our hearts to how our intuition (and I would call that God) is leading us.
XO
Elizabeth
