Recently a woman from India wrote me an email asking, “What are the basic principles that rule happiness?” What a fantastic question! Reflecting upon the question, I quickly realized that I could only answer from my own experiences. Looking back on my life, I quickly noticed what had—and continues to make—the most impact on the amount of happiness I feel every day.
Over the next twelve blog posts, I’ll be sharing the top twelve happiness principles that have mattered most in my life, and probably will in yours as well. Below is Happiness Principle #1.
Happiness Principle #1:
Intuition
My number one happiness principle, without question, has to be learning how to listen to your intuition, strengthening the amount of intuitive guidance in your life, and—without excessive analysis—taking action on your intuitive ideas and hunches.
The interesting thing about intuition is that it absolutely will take you off the beaten path, away from your safe and comfortable way of doing things. And that’s precisely why we tend to distrust or dismiss our intuition, and precisely why our lives would be so much better if we took the intuitive plunge.
Intuition is your own higher self, wanting you to live the important life experiences that you came to Earth to live. While it may take practice and a hefty amount of trust to live guided by intuition, once you do your life will never be the same. Intuition leads you into a life that is rich, rewarding, satisfying, eternally evolving, and filled with meaningful experiences.
Set your sights to listen to your intuition, and practice following through with action. Your life and your spirit will be happier!
Let us know how intution has both surprised you and taken your life to a new level. We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m looking forward to reading the full series, Annette!
Intuition is a great start, and it was for me as I travel this road of personal discovery. For me intuition is not a blinking neon sign that shouts “THIS WAY!” … it is more of a whisper, a hunch or feeling.
It often is what I’ve felt inside, but for years never felt I could dare make that choice — to step away from the familiar and the safe. In my desire to “play it safe,” I found that I was living, but not really living a life.
For someone who spent decades “playing it safe,” taking time to consider the “what ifs” in life continues to take practice. The old ways of thinking are still there. But I continue to live each day asking myself not “why listen” to my intuition, but “why not?”
Thanks for all you do!
Jim
Jim, I can’t thank you enough for sharing your story above about following your intuition. You are so right… intuition isn’t a neon sign or a shout. And it’s not even a silent whisper, at least not for me. It is exactly as you describe, a feeling inside or an inner knowingness.
You also described what anyone who follows their intuition knows–that our human self would prefer to “play it safe” and live a familiar life, but our intuitive self prefers to have new, creative, self-expressive experiences.
Our intuitive self doesn’t care if we fail or succeed, because that is not the point. The point is venturing into into an intuitively chosen experience, an experience that has personal meaning to growth, discovery, and creative expression, and then gaining understanding through that experience. Which means of course, taking intuitively guided action, seeing how that action turns out, gaining the wisdom from that action, and then adjusting our course accordingly. This “unsafe” journey can really make our human self uneasy. But I have found that my intuitive self always takes me down important pathways.
As we gain more trust in our intuition, our human self and our intuitive self begin to form a new alliance, one based on trust and mutual respect. Knowing that our intutive self is none other than the spirit or essence of who we really are, we begin to experience of love of self that was unavailable before.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and energy with all of us here at Divine Self! We’re looking forward to hearing more of your intuitively guided adventures.
Hi Annette,
I’m so happy to be back online and living in this little piece of heaven know as Portapique, Nova Scotia! Lots to accomoplish both inside and out, but enjoying myself immensely………everyday is a “new adventure” because new plants and flowers are welcoming me!
Will get some photos uploaded soon.
As ever, Kathleen
Kathleen,
Congratulations once again on finding your way to your own personal slice of heaven in Portapique, Nova Scotia. From your past posts, we know that your intuitive spirit longed to move to that area of Nova Scotia. it was not easy following that inner knowingness. In fact, even as you describe above, your move required risk, restructuring of your life, and reorganizing of your possessions.
Even as we feel the pull of our intuition, we also realize that following our inner desires requires us to engage in change. Often, in the long run we can’t believe our good fortune at having created such a personally meaningful and important life. But in the short run, we can easily question the importance of intuition, as we find ourselves involved in the human tasks–as in your case packing up moving boxes, unloading, reorganizing your living space, and dealing with the endings of one life and the beginnings of another. That’s a lot to go through. And as Jim described so beautifully above, it really is easier to “play it safe.” Only playing it safe isn’t the same as really living.
We applaud your courage to follow your heart, and wish you all the best in your new adventure!
Ooooooops! I managed to pluck a plant which I believed to be a Weed! My new dear neighbour has set me straight. Did get to try out my new whipper snipper which my darling husband got me for my birthday……then it started to rain.
My basic principle is Do what you love and Love what you do! Thank you for your best wishes. Life is so much simpler here in Portapique……Mother Nature abounds.
I am full of joy daily…..no more city life for me. I have enough “work” to keep me busy for the rest of my life and plan to make every second count.
Be happy,
Kathleen