Listen To Your Intution

"The only real valuable thing is intution. "

- Albert Einstein

This is a pretty cool article about listening to your intuition:

http://www.lynnrobinson.com/art_getahead.html

It seems women tend to be a little more trained or have a stronger tendency of listening to their intuition. I guess the business world is catching on, because a majority of the small businesses these days are being started by women. Anyway, pretty cool article that reminds you to trust your gut. It can open to the door to great blessing as well as save you years of grief. I think we've all experienced this first hand at some point. Thank God when you get the ‘green light’ from within and thank God when you get the ‘red light’. It’s for your benefit and gives you an ‘edge’.

You are the best...

Choosing The Best

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God." -Philippians 1: 9 - 11

Part of codependent behavior is it tends to settle for "good" rather then the "best". Settling for "good" usually has it's roots in fear of hurting people, i.e. the fear of man, which has it's roots in the fear of death - abandoment, being left alone, feeling rejected, "getting hurt again".

Good vs The Best
When you are in the middle of settling for "good" over the "best", there is usually an "unease" that comes with it. You find yourself acting out previous programing of "rationalizing" your decision for fear of hurting peoples feelings or having your own feelings hurt. But deep down you are crying out.

Don't ignore the heart cry of your spirit! Something isn't right. You could be choosing "good" over "the best". When you are violating your own conscience: "good" is actually not "good" at all. "Good" comes with a price!

Choose The Best
Make a quality decision to choose the best. You'll find it will liberate your spirit (your inner being) to start looking for God's best in your life. Decree and declare: "I choose the best. I choose God's best. God's best is mine. " The book of Job says:

"You shall also decide and decree a thing, and it shall be established for you; and the light [of God's favor] shall shine upon your ways" (Job 22: 28)

When you decide and decree that you will choose God's best for your life, the light of God's favor will shine on the path of God's best for your life. Opportunites, ideas, insights, relationships, serendipous events, and resources will begin to emerge. Situations will begin to accomodate themselves on your behalf. You will still have to make decisions and perservere on that path, but the path will begin to open up.

The Path To The Best
Will there be confrontations along the path to the best? Possibly. Your decision to go from "good to great" and "better to best" will not only shake up your own comfort zone, but peoples comfort zones around you.

Obviously, be wise and treat people with love and respect and don't in haste "throw out the baby with the bathwater". Keep a balanced perspective on this quest for the best. Look for underlying patterns, themes, root causes and 'key issues' while being action-oriented and decisive. Read the lines and read between the lines. As the scripture says:

"The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty" (Proverbs 21:5)

Let peace be your guide. As the late Edwin Louise Cole so wisely put it:

• Children feel, act and then think
• Men feel, think, and then act.
• Leaders think, act and then feel...Feelings follow action."

Great advice and worth meditating on: think...act....feel. I might add that along with doing your 'due diligence', let peace be the 'umpire' of your heart . (Colossians 3:15)

Be Cerebral and Spiritual

This is a picture of a person who is living a pro-active, intentional life. They 'think it through' with the intent of 'following through', while listening to their gut. They are cerebral and spiritual with an intent of taking some kind of action - even if their decision is to take action now, take no action, or take action at a later time. They are a paradoxical blend of being both sharp-minded and soft-hearted. They are focused and determined, yet flexible and open to a better approach. They are what John C. Maxwell calls: 'velvet covered bricks': having the capacity to be 'tough, but tender'. A person who functions this way tends to end up 'calling the shots', because most people don't like to have to think and don't have the patience to quite down to listen to their intuition. As Hitler said:

"How lucky it is for rulers that men do not think!" - Adolf Hitler

Wow! Motivates you to start thinking!

When a person engages in this type of intentional, creative thinking and allows time for the Holy Spirit to start to clarify the plan of God for their lives, it opens the door for Divine direction, strategies, plans and "divinely directed decisions". When a person develops the habit of being an intentional thinker, while developing their 'leadership intuition' and capacity for 'divinely directed decisions', it produces higher results! They tend to be highly effective people rather then just busy, and major on high leverage activities that produce high leverage results. They make genuine progress...

Methods of Operation: Tranquility
You might be thinking at this point: "I like what you are saying, but how do I go about this process of 'intentional think'?" Great question! One method of engaging in this process of thinking, is to find a good 'thinking spot' that brings you peace and stirs up your creativity. The place could be a favorite 'thinking chair', a home office, or even a place like a coffee shop. Whatever place stimulates you and gives you a sense of peace and tranquility is a good 'spot'. It can literally be anywhere, so long as it's your place to get stirred up again.

I tend to like Starbucks. Usually when I'm reading a stimulating book and taking notes and meditating on new ideas, my creativity gets stirred up and I start to get a sense of 'direction' or a way to improve upon something I'm currently doing. I also start to sense things that don't fit into the overall vision for my life and are worth 'moving on' from. Alot of the 'why's' of why I should do something or 'why' I should move on from something are brought to the surface. In other cases, I may not always be able to intellectually put my finger on exactly why I should do something or why I should stop doing something, but I sense it at an etheral level.

This process can also come through prayer or spending time in Scriptures to sharpen your mind, refresh your spirit, and expand your vision.

When you find your 'spot', it's wise to bring a pad of paper and pen to jot down notes and ideas. There is power in the written word and putting your ideas down on paper is great method of forming direction, fleshing out ideas and committing to some kind of action.

Let Go Of The Lesser To Embrace The Best
That said, determine to choose God's best for your life - being aware that there may be some boundry setting excercizes and 'executive decisions' along the way. There will be occassions when, after honestly analyzing a situation and seeking wisdom, you will have to let go of the 'lesser' to embrace the 'best'. (John 15:2) This can come in the form of a bold new course or simply some kind of 'adjustment' that will help you improve from 'good to great' and 'better to best' in some area of your life. It will be worth the decision, however, because it comes with the most valuable asset you can have....peace.

You are the best.

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