The voice of intuition is silent but goes forth with the strength of the ocean.

It is liquid; almost unnoticeable, soft, and flexible until it takes over and washes us on the shores of our dreams.

Sometimes we think we can ignore it, or think we can be above it. Steer better, know better. No matter how stubborn we are, it will never leave us. Luckily, because we so desperately need it.

Intuition and its neutral voice 

My neurolinguistic programming teacher told me about the different minds we all have. We all have a positive mind, a negative mind, and a neutral mind. We are all slightly tilted toward one, or more accurately, toward either the positive or the negative mind.

The positive mind, at its core, is always full of possibilities. It has complete trust in life and the flow of things. For the positive mind, everything will always work out and everything is always possible. While this is a good tendency to have, the shadow side of this can be that we neglect the realities of life, and leave too much to chance. When consumed by the positive mind, we may overlook the risks involved, and potentially put ourselves in harm’s way. Sometimes we may confuse this to be the voice of intuition. I can raise my hand right here and confess. This is me.

And while I love my positive mind because of its child-like faith and trust in the beauty of the universe, I have to admit that sometimes I tend to risk, perhaps, a bit too much in order to follow my dreams. No matter how much I hate the word practical, I admit I should practice this side of me more.

The negative mind is more focused on keeping us safe.

Instead of blindly going for it, it will, first and foremost, draw our attention to all the practical things we need to take care of. It will remind us how to remain safe; it will make us think about all the things that could go wrong, and all the things we need to take care of.

Again, useful and important, but taken to the extreme, it can be a limiting way of thinking—operated by fear only. And no, this is also not what intuition sounds like.

The neutral mind is actually the closest to intuition, hanging somewhere in the middle—somewhere deeper. It is neither positive nor negative, but rather like an independent adviser, whispering and guiding in the background.

Not about the end results, but the process of doing 

During a normal day, the positive or negative mind is chattering on, taking us in new directions. But the intuition is something that is underneath, quietly steering us throughout our lives. It is not so much about the next hop or the next short-term dream—it’s more about lifelong, solid guidance from within.

This voice is not invested in the end results; it cares about the process of doing. It also does not always make sense to our conscious mind. Our ego may resist, because it may often be the opposite of what the ego finds important. This makes the voice of the intuition sometimes very difficult to understand.

I speak from experience in saying it was highly inconvenient to need to divorce after just marrying, settling down, and having it all. It is highly inconvenient to sense that you must give up a project that you have spent years preparing, giving it your heart and soul, only to abandon it because your intuition tells you to, without telling you what else to do instead.

Quiet down to hear the whisper

This short video clip from Steven Spielberg about dreams and intuition recognizes that true dreams, like intuition, are not always obvious and direct.

Dreams have a tendency to sneak up and surprise us; we cannot always plan for them.

The same is true for intuition; it won’t shout and be in your face, but it will speak in whispers instead. And when it speaks, you may often find its messages surprising.

In order to hear this whisper, we need to make an effort. We need to quiet down and hit the pause button. If we don’t, we are living in a trance—reacting to life’s many demands—rather than living with purpose.

Meditation is a great way to bring some needed space into your life. It will help not just when you are in the act of meditation itself, but also throughout your days.

Giving it time and space

Above all, in order to truly hear the soft voice of intuition, we should have patience. This is something I am always struggling with because I would rather know where I am going and what I should be doing at all times.

Sometimes, we have to accept the vague in-between times, the messy middles and practice the art of trust.

We may receive an intuitive message telling us to stop a project or avoid going in a certain direction. The message may be clear, however, we may not know what to do about it. We need to space, in life, before new things can grow.

The space we need may take its sweet time. And so there we are floating on the surface of the ocean like a tiny little cork, not knowing whether we are actually going anywhere because there are no reference points. We are left with ourselves, our intuition, and our channel of communication with the universe.

Allowing something to emerge carries different energy; it is trusting, natural, and it goes with the flow of life.

So, let us follow those sweet whispers of the soul, and let the eternally wise intuition within guide us.