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Learning to hear one’s inner guide (or little voice within) isn’t so much acquiring a new skill as rediscovering a very old one.

As Spiritual beings we are naturally intuitive, naturally perceptive of those signals coming from the non-physical realms. But both as individuals, and as a species, the ability has been neglected, devalued, even ridiculed. (more…)

This inner guidance system is known as many things: going with your gut, the little voice within, instinct, intuition etc. What it means is defying logic, reason, and analysis, the laws of probability etc to do something that seems absurd or irrational just because it feels right.

I think this is something that as a species we used to do a lot, but over time we’ve become more “civilized” and “sophisticated” (note the quote marks) and have somehow lost touch with our inner guidance system. We live in an age of reason, an era of unparalleled access to information and the computing power to supposedly make sense of it. Decision-making has never been so easy. And yet for all that, doesn’t the gut reaction still have a place? Doesn’t the resurgence of interest in so-called new age topics indicate that it does?

Never forget, we are not automata, but Spiritual beings undertaking but one leg of an infinite journey. We are not (totally) predictable, being blessed with free will. We are divine beings, remaining part of the great oneness from which we emanate, but also unique, idiosyncratic and imperfect.

By playing the odds we could probably go through life safely and comfortably with a steady job, steady spouse and 2 point something kids, average home in an average part of town, eventually drawing an adequate but unremarkable pension. But is that really what it’s all about?

If we accept that this life really is just a tiny part of a much greater reality, a reality that continues regardless of our performance on this small stage, then surely our conscious goal ought to be the amassing of experience. And that comes from thinking and acting outside the box.

Before we’re born we agree what the purpose of this life will be. But the memory of our choice is buried so deep we’re unaware of it. We have free will, and encounter numerous distractions along the way. But life continually presents signposts nudging us in the right direction. These are external events; the tide that seems to push us inevitably towards certain things. They are also the gut instincts that tell us when something is right, or not.

Where does the gut get its info? It can come from our higher self, the eternal, Spiritual, part of our current being. It can also come from our many (Spiritual) guides and helpers who watch over our earthly journey with loving interest, who have our best interests at heart but who cannot directly interfere with our free will.

Interestingly, even hard-nosed businessman Donald Trump devotes a whole chapter of his book Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life to “Basic Instincts” or what he describes as “Go With Your Gut”.

Should we choose to become more responsive to our little voice within we need to ensure that we are truly listening to our higher self or guides and not being driven by the emotions of our ego. This discernment gets easier with practice, once we stop dismissing such impressions as irrational nonsense. Lower emotions tend to be fickle, or obviously aimed at short-term gratification rather than lasting progression.

If, like most of us, you’ve ignored your inner guidance system for too long, you’ll find your early experiences of it to be fallible as you misinterpret its messages, or confuse it with lower emotions. Over time it will pay dividends that more than compensate for early setbacks. The potential gains far outweigh the cost of early errors. So start listening to your gut today, you’ll find it an invaluable ally on your chosen path.