When I look back at my personal and professional history, there were always signs when something had run its course.

Whether it was a job or relationship, there were signposts along the way telling me that it was time to go; the quiet whisper of my intuition telling me what I didn’t want to hear.

I became an expert at denial, the kind of expert who delved deeply into personal growth and spirituality, but walked carefully on eggshells around the parts of my life I wanted to keep whole. I could go deep into areas I wanted to change while avoiding all knowledge of the others.

Each time, circumstances would force me into a decision long after I should have made the one I knew was right. I fought it. I fought change with everything I had, even when my gut feeling agreed it was the best thing for me.

So often we look at our intuition as the bearer of bad news, the unwelcome guest at a party. But, the truth is that intuition is a gift.

It’s rightness and truth wrapped up in a bow and presented to us on a silver platter. We know what it is we should do, but we don’t want to know. The not wanting to know can make us angry or defensive; it’s the argumentative tone we adopt when someone else points out the thing we’re trying so hard not to see.

It is a gift because it leads us toward good decisions and the kind of life that will resonate with our souls. It’s not bad news at all, even when the choices that result from it are difficult or frightening. Our intuition isn’t trying to hurt us; it’s trying to save us.

Here are 20 reminders that our intuition is a gift we can trust:

1. “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” ~ Maya Angelou
2. “Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of all people are connected, and we are able to know everything, because it’s all written there.” ~ Paul Coelho
3. “Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; unbelief, in denying them.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
4. “I make all my decisions on intuition. But then, I must know why I made that decision. I throw a spear into the darkness. That is intuition. Then I must send an army into the darkness to find the spear. That is intellect.” ~ Ingmar Bergman
5. “A butterfly does not wonder how it can stop being a caterpillar. It simply feels some feeling from within that tells it: isolate yourself in this cocoon and grow within it. It trusts that feeling. When it comes out, it is radiant and beautiful. All the little bug did was follow its nature. You are no different.” ~ Vironika Tugaleva
6. “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~ Maya Angelou
7. “You must train your intuition—you must trust the small voice inside you which tells you exactly what to say, what to decide.” ~ Ingrid Bergman
8. “Intuition is seeing with the soul.” ~ Dean Koontz
9. “Intuition is always right in at least two important ways: It is always in response to something. It always has your best interest at heart.” ~ Gavin de Becker
10. “Our inner wisdom is persistent, but quiet. It will always whisper, but it will never stop knocking at your door.” ~ Vironika Tugaleva
11. “We learn from pain that some of the things we thought were castles turn out to be prisons, and we desperately want out, but even though we built them, we can’t find the door. Yet maybe if you ask God for help in knowing which direction to face, you’ll have a moment of intuition. Maybe you’ll see at least one next right step you can take.” ~ Anne Lamott
12. “You know that crazy heart of yours? The one with lightning crackling and moonlight shining through it. The one you’ve been told not to trust because it often led you off the beaten path. The one so many have misunderstood your entire life. Trust it. Feed it. Grow it. It’s your greatest treasure and will point the way to your highest destiny. It is the voice of your soul.” ~ Jacob Nordby
13. “If you have the understanding to first notice the signs, continue with the courage to follow them.” ~ Nikki Rowe
14. “The longer you resist the calling of your soul the harder it is to find your way back. Intuition isn’t instilled in us for nothing; it’s the movement inside us that we must listen to if we want the void to vanish.” ~ Nikki Rowe
15. “Your intuition won’t fail you, the quest dear, is to silence your mind so you can feel your way home.” ~ Nikki Rowe
16. “I live by feeling, my intuition surfaces with the radiance of the moon; and the footing I take must be walked in truth. This world is too dark to think of it any other way.” ~ Nikki Rowe
17. “It’s called an inner voice for a reason. It’s the gnawing feeling inside your stomach telling you yes or no. It’s the one voice in your life that isn’t tampered by other’s biased opinions, scars, feelings, or thoughts. Go with it, you know yourself better than anyone ever does.” ~ Hope Alcocer
18. “When at a crossroads, my father was fond of saying ‘go with your gut. ‘Intuition,’ he said, ‘always has our best interests at heart.’ It is a voice that can tell us who is friend and who is foe…Which ones to hold at arm’s length…and which ones to keep close. But too often, we become distracted by fear, doubt, our own stubborn hopes, and refuse to listen.” ~ Emily Thorne
19. “I’d just like to reiterate that intuition and feeling are two different things. ‘Feeling’ describes the product of emotions while ‘intuition’ describes a honed internal skill of knowing. While feelings will change as emotions come and go; intuition is a description of a known truth whether or not tangible to logic or reason, at the moment.” ~ C Joybell
20. “Most times when folks ask for advice, they already know what they should do. They just want to hear it from someone else.” ~ Jeanette Walls 

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Author: Crystal Jackson
Image: Natalia Deprina/DeviantArt
Editor: Lieselle Davidson
Copy Editor: Khara-Jade Warren
Social Editor: Erin Lawson