When I graduated college I moved from Virginia to Alabama to live with my Dad for a year. Growing up with divorced parents and living overseas in Belgium for the better half of my life I hardly knew my Dad as a person, it was a connection I desperately wanted. No needed rather. This felt right to me, I knew that it was an opportunity I would regret not taking. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, I now cannot imagine lacking the closeness that my Dad and I now have.

During that same time, I got a job working for a travel company that promoted south east traveling working in the creative department as an Art Director. When I interviewed for the job I frankly had no idea what I was doing. I had been interviewing for jobs for months and felt unsure about what other opportunities there would be for me in the area, but something felt off. In my heart my opinion of my future boss was a RED flag waving and screaming “steer clear”. I shoved this aside though, and took the job out of necessity and fear. Fear of not finding something better, fear of not being good enough for something better and just plain fear of not having a job.

In turn, what I did was shut down my intuition that was telling me something wasn’t right about the situation. I stayed in that job for a year being verbally abused and degraded on a daily basis. Despite my appeals to superiors about the situation, I knew I couldn’t stay there any longer, my intuition had been right.

 

I don’t regret it, I don’t wish I could change it. Buried deep in that emotionally turbulent year are valuable lessons that I needed to learn, one being how to trust my intuition.

We all have this voice that we hear in the still moments like whispers in our ears  from our mothers as we slept as children . But it’s negating the “shoulds” that tell us what we ought to be doing out of fear of the unknown or societal expectations that prevent us from hearing our intuition clearly or ignoring it altogether.

Since that trying experience of employment I committed to myself that I believed enough in my own inner knowledge to trust my intuition. I would no longer shut it out, ignore it or bury deep inside of me.  One of the most powerful acts of self-care is to own exactly who we are in each moment, following your intuition is part of this. By trusting in it you’re trusting in the fact you already have the answers to the questions you’re looking for and that your decisions (not anyone else’s) are what’s best for you. Only you can know what is true for your path.

This is difficult, let me say, for someone who’s been known as “people-pleaser” for lack of a better word. We are so concerned with how other people will feel, what they will think, if it will make them happy, if what we do will disappoint them, or if we’ll find approval from them. What we’re doing is seeking validation from sources outside of ourselves. The only validation you need is inside you in what you know already is true. It’s in the quiet moments of meditation, of the most intense hike when you’re hardly able to breathe, when you’re contemplative you allow that voice to be heard sending a resounding energy through your body and the message is, “I love you, I trust in you.”

Often times, we feel stuck in life and a large part of this can be muddled by ignoring our intuition and not trusting going forward in the direction we’re meant to. Instead we try to have more control.

Trusting your intuition is about letting go of the control and allowing your body to feel what is right first (the “gut” feeling) and having full confidence in those feelings.

When we do this, we’re unequivocally allowing for our authentic selves to be in charge, to show up in the world as we are meant to as wholeheartedly vulnerable. I encourage you to do this, to understand that the answers you need are already inside of you, in your imagination, in your dreams, in what you can create for your life.

In a few weeks I’ll be embarking on the most exhilarating road trip of a lifetime to move from Florida to Seattle, Washington. I’ve known for sometime that my heart’s desires and needs are elsewhere. In knowing who I am and being fully committed to my own needs I am doing just that and trusting my intuition. I am shifting through a period of transition, and with this comes to uncertainty of the unknown and the excitement of all possibilities.

In preparing for this grand adventure I collected a box of items most important to me as I embark on this journey. They hold significant value, meaning, and have acted as guides in my journey this far. I am starting only with what serves me, and adding only what I love.

The same goes for making the decision to trust your intuition. Let go of the aspects of your life that you don’t need, that are not allowing you to raise an ear to listen to your heart’s desires fully. Whatever prevents you from going forward immediately identify it and remove it. Know that you already know what’s best for you, ignore the “shoulds” that make you feel guilty for not being enough and embrace your inner intelligence that connects divinely to your authentic soul. Move forward knowing that your intuition is always right, you already know what’s best.

 

To new adventures trusting fully in the power of your own truth,

Kari

 What are ways you’ve trusted your intuition? Share with me in the comments!

 

 

**WHAT’S IN THE BOX?**

The box is a wooden box given to me by my Dad. Many of my items are books that have inspired me and continue to help me understand my own inner strength, Daring Greatly by Brene Brown, Wishes Fulfilled by Dr. Wayne Dyer and Find Your Happy, Daily Mantras by Shannon Kaiser. Along with those aids I have several crystals to help along my journey, green quartz for starting a new path, green selenite for all things joyous and fun, malachite which promotes change and of course labradorite for honing the third eye of intuition (this is that vibrant blue teardrop). A journal that was given to me by a role model of mine. A small bowl I’ve used for jewelry that belonged to my great grandmother. The jewelry of most significance; Alex and Ani bracelets that are treasured gifts from friends, my two favorite opal rings (my birthstone) from my mom and grandmother, rose quartz necklace from my sister, and my Torrini Fleur de lis coin necklace a treasured reminder of my time in Florence. In there I also have part of my “reserves” which are a collection of notes, cards, quotes, and fortunes that I keep to look at for inspiration, reassurance and vitality. Lastly, I have the succulent gifted to me by a friend that represents new growth, sustainability and resiliency.