” Live every day like it’s your last
—cause one day you’re gonna be right. ”

Ray Charles

“All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.”
—T.E. Lawrence

Do you ever get a little gut feeling about something? Do you ever hear a little voice inside, urging you to make a move, make a change, take an action or simply pick up the phone and call your Aunt Linda?…

And have you ever had the experience of NOT listening to that wise inner chatter? Have you ever kicked yourself saying “I KNEW I should have done that… Why, I was just thinking about doing that just the other day!”. Many people can relate to this. I sure can.

I’ve come to believe and trust that there’s an internal guidance system at work inside all of us. Some of us are just tuned to a clearer frequency where we can hear the messages a bit louder, and surely clearer. But others of us have some much alternate chatter and garbage filling up our minds, it would be impossible to hear our own inner guidance over the roaring motor of our chattery brains.

What I’ve also come to know for myself, is that each time I’m able to listen to my own inner wisdom, it somehow seems to get stronger and louder. Like a muscle that you train at the gym – over time it can become a sleek, powerful, efficient tool. Same goes for the inner voice.

So now when I walk down the street, and I get the feeling to pick up a piece of paper or candy wrapper, I just do it. And not to save the environment or to be a good person. But just because it FEELS good to listen to this inner wisdom. I hurt myself when I don’t follow my own rules.

Just the other day, I was running a bit late for a lunch date. I passed a woman on the street who reached out and asked me for some money so she could feed her little boy. Being late for my appointment, and definitely not in my body, I acknowledged her but kept walking quickly to my appointment. But even over my stress about being late, I could feel that very familiar feeling in my gut – telling me loud and clear to stop for a moment and share what I had with this woman. There was no denying the message. As I continued down the street my stomach clenched, and I knew I’d gone against my own wisdom. And NOT because I have a belief that I need to save this woman, or help every homeless person. It has nothing to do with that. But has EVERYTHING to do with trusting and following my own internal directions. I do these things because it makes me FEEL good. And life goes smoothly when I do so.

When I got to the end of the block, I stopped. I dug through my purse and pulled out ever bill I had with me. I clenched them in my fist and turned around to give what I had to the woman and child. But it was too late… they were no where to be seen. I’d missed my chance. They were long gone. And I’ve felt rather icky about that situation ever since.

Sometimes when we don’t act immediately when there’s the impulse to do so, opportunities fade. Getting good at listening to your instincts and taking action can make you very fluid, agile and abundant, not to mention just feeling so gosh-darn good!

It makes life quite simple, actually. All I do now is follow directions. I wait for the little whisper, and then take action. I’ve found that’s literally all I have to do. Every detail of my life is taken care of for me. I just have to show up and do what I’m told. Sound a bit weird? I can understand why – we’ve been trained to control our environments, make things happen, push forward and pave our own paths. But I’ve found that by “following directions”, I get even better results than anything my ego could dictate. There’s a more brilliant plan laid out for me than I could ever hope to come up with. I’m not that smart – I’m definitely not God.

I’ll readily admit that I’m not perfect at this yet. I don’t do this all the time (as I shared above). But boy, I suffer when I don’t. I must admit, I’m quite enjoying trusting that the Universe will provide. It’s comforting, and the results couldn’t be more spectacular, in my experience.

So where can you fine-tune your instincts? Where can you take a few steps towards listening to your guy feelings?

• Picking up trash?
• Making a phone call when someone pops into your mind?
• Turning left, instead of right? (or vice versa, of course!)
• Taking a course in something totally unrelated to your field / following a new life path or passion?
• Saying something kind to someone or giving a hand when you get the urge to do so?
• Changing your schedule if some other task or errand comes to mind?
• And any of a million other things your mind can whisper to you!

Life can be quite magical when we just show up and follow directions. Report back your results — I’d love to hear your inspiring stories! You may only be left with the thought “Boy, why didn’t anybody tell me it was this easy when I was a kid?!”

Happy “Listening”!

©2007 Stephanie McWilliams

The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can.
—Robert Cushing

I’m friends with a spit-fire named Michelle. Just the other day she turned to me during our ritual Monday evening spinning class, and said “You know Steph, I just can’t major in minors anymore!” and then went back to her biking.

Michelle, being famous for zippy one-liners like this, made a very good point. How many of us stress out about small things all the time? How many of us are burning up so much adrenaline on the small stuff, that we have little left for the situations or events that might need a bit more attention or care? How many of us have lost our ability to see our lives clearly and have started seeing the littlest things as raging forest fires? I know I can do this at times. I imagine many of you are nodding your heads along with me…

So what do we do about this? After a while, our focus on the negative can become a bit of a bad habit. Like an old man who’s walked the same narrow path through a field 100 times a day for 80 years, the path can get worn so deep that he’s up to his eyeballs in dirt. Sometimes it’s tough to even remind himself of the beauty of that field just above his head. How many of us have become this old man with the habits and patterns in our own lives?

I find that in those moments when I’m “majoring in minors”, taking a good deep cleansing breath and releasing it with a sigh does wonders for clearing the body’s energy, and rebooting our internal program. When we have more time, sitting and enjoying any number of self-reflective activities can help get underneath the issue to find the belief at the root of it all. “The Work” of Byron Katie is of course my favorite practice, but journaling, meditating, or talking it through with a friend can also be of huge benefit. Once we shine the ol’ mental flashlight on those limiting beliefs, they disappear, never to return. Like Byron Katie loves to say, it’s like realizing that a snake lying in front of you is actually just a rope. Once you realize it’s a rope, you can never be afraid of it again.

In the college of life, what will YOU major in today? The choice is up to you…

©2007 Stephanie McWilliams