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Zoe Girl
12-10-17, 11:04pm
I was going to say what I think most people think of intuition, and I honestly don't know what they do. I don't talk about it much, but it has been so strong in my life. I am not sure how other people get through things without this, but I also know to rarely talk about it.

Yesterday I left after having coffee with my sister. I had a strong intuition to stop at a specific Ross store. I have been looking for dark blue pants to go with a jacket I have. I am thinking about all the elements of a new job, how I might dress in specific. I stopped and found them in the chaos that is a Ross store. Perfect for my middle aged belly that doesn't do tight things, perfect navy blue, and perfect size (petite in fact). The only time I doubted my intuition was the 35 minute check out line, no joke!

I can look around my house or in my closet and see what my intuition has led me to, half my wardrobe is from getting an urge to stop at a specific store at a specific time out of the blue. The biggest item was a car. I got a 8 passenger van when my kids were growing up, enough to take daycare kids with me, and not a mini-van (I hate those, this was on a truck chassis and not a car one). I just drove up, found it, went through the whole process. My ex was okay in general with my intuition, he just had to check out the car of course.

Maybe this happens to everyone? don't know

JaneV2.0
12-11-17, 11:37am
Most of us don't work that particular muscle enough; it's my estimation that people who do are often hugely successful.
I've learned to trust my instincts in general.

CathyA
12-11-17, 1:49pm
I live by intuition, but many times on this site, it's put down, like it doesn't have any intelligence to it. I think a lot of people don't have it and can't appreciate how enlightening it can be. (of course, it can be a burden too).

Zoe Girl
12-11-17, 5:32pm
Thanks Cathy, and I know it doesn't make sense to people. Kinda sucks sometimes, like i live in this world with a little bit of magic and i am sad that i can't share it

frugal-one
12-11-17, 7:44pm
I usually told I am "lucky".

Zoe Girl
12-11-17, 7:46pm
Mine just seems to come up for good shopping, although when I do not follow it then I find myself stuck in traffic or missing something important. So it is more of an avoidance of harm, but I don't think anyone notices except me.

CathyA
12-11-17, 8:10pm
I have the feeling you're always thinking and planning, even if fairly unconsciously. And you probably notice more than most people. My mind just doesn't stop. I'm thinking all the time as to what I need, where to go at what time of day, etc.
It's difficult being around people who don't think this way. They seem to waste so much time and effort..........but they don't know it, so it doesn't bother them. haha

Lainey
12-12-17, 10:31am
Most of us don't work that particular muscle enough; it's my estimation that people who do are often hugely successful.
. . .

Interesting because I attended a lunchtime lecture on intuition. The recommendation was to exercise that part of your brain every day. Even something as simple as, if you were setting up for a get-together and you want to know how many chairs you'll need, then focus on that until you come up with a number. A pretty vanilla example, I know, but as we get more and more attuned to our inner thoughts then more things become "intuitive."

Side note: everyone in attendance at this lecture/workshop was female. The instructor said that when she teaches it to a business/mostly male audience, she retitles it as "Listening to Your Gut" and it goes over very well.

Zoe Girl
12-12-17, 11:51am
I was reading about highly sensitive people again, it explained the thing that is really affecting me now. I get so much sensory input all the time,ALL the time, smells, sight, hearing, and all of it has associations tied to it all day long. Monday morning transitioning from my quiet weekend to work is rough. I try to do supportive things but my work load and stress has just been too much to make a dent lately. But i know what it is and i know it is valuable, and i know that supportive things make it much better so it is okay.

One thing i learned about being really aware and sensitive is that noticing things about people is something to keep to yourself! Sometimes they don't know something about themselves and then they get creeped out by you. My one staff who was really abused notices everything, abuse survivors often do, they depended on reading people to survive.


The sensitivity is part of intuition, but not all of it. There is still the woo woo part that i can't explain and kinda don't want to.

CathyA
12-12-17, 12:24pm
I know what you mean Zoe Girl. I'm hypersensitive about everything.........reading people, making connections, feeling EVERYTHING too much.....including pain and sadness.
Did you ever watch the TV series "The Mentalist"? He didn't have ESP........was just very perceptive. It can be a wonderful thing, and a curse at the same time.
Sometimes I feel like a blind person might feel......when all their other senses kick in, to help them get through the days. I seem to operate on a different "plane" than a lot of people.
I think I have a learning disability and wonder if this is part of it, or if I learned to "read" things in a different way, to get around other "deficiencies" I have.?

JaneV2.0
12-12-17, 12:32pm
...

One thing i learned about being really aware and sensitive is that noticing things about people is something to keep to yourself! Sometimes they don't know something about themselves and then they get creeped out by you. My one staff who was really abused notices everything, abuse survivors often do, they depended on reading people to survive. ...

I think that's why women are more attuned to the people around them, because they've historically been prey.

Teacher Terry
12-12-17, 1:08pm
My Mom had great intuition and said that if you ignore it you will be sorry. The older I get the more I am in tune with it. My sister was supposed to go with a group of girls to visit a couple of college campuses at the age of 20 and at the last minute had a bad feeling and decided not to go. They were all killed in a car accident.

JaneV2.0
12-12-17, 1:36pm
I wish I had developed my instincts sooner. I started out relying on logic, which only gets you so far--sometimes far, far afield.
And woe to you if you don't listen to your instincts, as Teacher Terry's cautionary tale illustrates.

Tammy
12-12-17, 1:43pm
You all amaze me. I think about facts and act like Spock.

JaneV2.0
12-12-17, 1:48pm
You all amaze me. I think about facts and act like Spock.

You don't have to disregard facts to tap into your instincts.

CathyA
12-12-17, 3:30pm
You don't have to disregard facts to tap into your instincts.

Absolutely right.

What shakes my confidence in my intuition at times is feeling danger, when there ends up not being any. I suppose our intuitions can be different from each other's. I make tons of connections, which ends up having an input into some of my intuitions.
I think I drive DH crazy, 'cause he has no intuitions. haha
It's hard having a brain. :~)

Zoe Girl
12-13-17, 1:23pm
Now I am super aware of all the places my intuition does not work, sigh. It seems to be broken when it comes to keeping my mouth shut at work or doing the right thing to get ahead. However I can shop like a pro and once followed a homeless guy into a park to get my work flip-phone back safely.

Zoe Girl
12-13-17, 1:26pm
You all amaze me. I think about facts and act like Spock.

Some of it seems magical, however another part is not so different than Spock. I had a supervisor a couple years ago and I was irritated with her so I started tracking her during meetings. It was a way to not show irritation on my face the whole time, LOL. I noticed things like when her voice got higher, she spoke faster and louder. It was subtle but I realized anytime she talked about holding our staff accountable she got really excited. She was not so excited about other things, like her role. I think she liked our staff but this was unconscious as she spoke. I think Spock would have noticed that.

Tammy
12-14-17, 6:35am
That higher faster voice is a measurable data set. Not an intuition. 😄

LDAHL
12-14-17, 10:03am
Intuition is the inner sense that allows you to accurately predict twelve of the next five outcomes.

Float On
12-14-17, 10:17am
Oh I have it and pay attention to it. I get very clear signals about people. I've told my husband about people and he dismissed it. Sure enough we'll later hear they had an affair, or got in tax trouble, or messed up in some big way. I also get dreams that get stuck on replay until I experience it in reality. Could be about a new road I'll travel or someone I haven't met yet. I also keep a list of things I'm looking for and am amazed at how often I'll find it less expensive thru resale, yard sale, or be given it.

Zoe Girl
12-14-17, 11:12am
That higher faster voice is a measurable data set. Not an intuition. 

I agree but i alo see a range of what other people think i do that falls under this category. At least the scientific types want to explain it all that way, i struggle with trying to fit it into that box but it doesnt all fit i think.

JaneV2.0
12-14-17, 2:27pm
Every day, scientists discover what was previously unknown. Every year, new "truths" are unearthed and old ones are put to rest. The constant churn of discovery, invention, and an accumulation of facts which build on established foundations is what makes science. I think we only see the tip of the iceberg.

When scientists get too full of themselves, I consider phrenology and the destruction of Dr. Semmelweis at the hands of his peers, and I trust the truth will out.

Simplemind
12-14-17, 3:26pm
I'm very intuitive but for years didn't know there was a word for it. I grew up in a chaotic/abusive household. I do believe that is where the skill is honed because your antenna is up all the time. I waved the thoughts away for years because when I voiced them I was belittled and told I was being emotional or over dramatic. I have never been wrong when getting a negative vibe. A few times I waved it away with huge regret. I can be repelled by certain people and can't put my finger on it but know enough to steer clear. It was a joke at work that I couldn't be lied to and I do pick up deception like they were waving a sign. I do think a lot of it has to do with observation. I can't explain it but my brain subconsciously picks up patterns in everything- people, places, things.... when a pattern changes even slightly it grabs my attention. I'm also insatiably curious about which probably comes from wanting to make sense of what doesn't make sense.

Zoe Girl
12-14-17, 3:32pm
Very cool simple, i think abuse can wireus that way. I wasn't abused however my dadis very quiet so i got used to a very quiet world.

LDAHL
12-14-17, 3:37pm
Guess right three out of five times, and you're intuitive.

Guess right three out of five times and ignore the two wrong guesses, and you're psychic.

CathyA
12-14-17, 3:50pm
I'm very intuitive but for years didn't know there was a word for it. I grew up in a chaotic/abusive household. I do believe that is where the skill is honed because your antenna is up all the time. I waved the thoughts away for years because when I voiced them I was belittled and told I was being emotional or over dramatic. I have never been wrong when getting a negative vibe. A few times I waved it away with huge regret. I can be repelled by certain people and can't put my finger on it but know enough to steer clear. It was a joke at work that I couldn't be lied to and I do pick up deception like they were waving a sign. I do think a lot of it has to do with observation. I can't explain it but my brain subconsciously picks up patterns in everything- people, places, things.... when a pattern changes even slightly it grabs my attention. I'm also insatiably curious about which probably comes from wanting to make sense of what doesn't make sense.

Sounds right Simplemind. I was from an abusive home too. I've heard that when you're around danger when you're young, your brain becomes hypervigilant. It's exhausting. But who knows......maybe I drove my parents nuts with a personality I was born with and they just didn't have the maturity they needed to deal with it in a healthy way. I noticed everything as a child too. It can really wear you out. Yes.......about trying to make sense of something that didn't make sense. When you're a child you can't think in terms of "Dad has a personality disorder", but rather "Dad is telling me I'm worthless and stupid".......and you're trying to understand why? The brain is a very curious and amazing thing. People can rise above a lot of things that happen to them, but what happens in childhood seems to rewire our brains and makes things harder later.

Teacher Terry
12-14-17, 4:35pm
I had a great childhood but probably tuned into my intuition because my Mom did.

Float On
12-15-17, 10:56am
A regular childhood growing up on a farm miles from other children. I had a vivid imagination, pretend friends and did have a little Indian grandmother that had a saying for everything and paid attention to everything because everything meant something. I became an observer.

pinkytoe
12-15-17, 11:13am
As mentioned, we are discovering all sorts of interesting things about how our brains work. Maybe intuition is another type of cognition more developed in some than others partially due to the environment in which we are raised. I am reading a book now about researchers discovering how crucial the built environment (our houses, buildings, cities) are to our personality, outlook, cognition, etc. which is something I always wondered about.

happystuff
12-16-17, 10:19am
Not trying to explain it but I do feel "following my instincts" is all part of my decision-making/choice process. Most of the time I think I am unaware of the part that "instinct" plays in my decisions/choices, but even if I don't consciously recognize it, I do believe it is there.