Jump or Step Back?

Whenever I stretch myself to take risks or step outside my comfort zone, fears or uneasy feelings come up. As I try to live more intuitively I have to ask myself: Is the fear just my mind trying to keep me safe as a survival mechanism, or is it my intuition telling me something I should pay attention to? 

As it turns out, feeling literally sick to my stomach before taking a step doesn’t mean my gut is saying no. There are ways to tell fear from intuition, though the difference may be subtle.

Intuition is clean. It’s in the here and now. There’s clarity and focus. It doesn’t have a story. There’s no “I should / shouldn’t do this” because of some outcome or because someone may think something. A fear-driven choice is accompanied by a story: “I’ve tried this and failed”, “It may take years” - it’s past- or future-looking.

Intuition is often inexplicable - a feeling or a knowing. Everything I rationally know seems perfect, but something feels off. Or the choice seems crazy but something tells me to go for it; some small part of me is excited even if a bigger - and louder - part is terrified.

The biggest tell for me is that intuition is expansive, sometimes even energizing, while the fear-based voice is depleting and plays on my insecurities. Do I feel like a bigger, better, truer version of myself, or am I diminishing myself, stagnating or retreating? Am I being true to the person I am or want to become, or am I getting further away from her?

I even use a clichéd but effective visualization: Jumping off a cliff. When I’m relaxed and in my body, what happens when I jump? Do I crash on rocks or feel free to fly? If I step back, do I save myself or shrink myself?

Go ahead, try it!

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