Written by Alanna Gardner, MFT
This article was originally published on PhiladelphiaMFT.com. Be sure to check out their site for professional relationship and sex advice.
With the constant hustle and bustle of everyday life, it can be challenging to take a step back and listen to the small voice within yourself. It’s even more challenging to follow your intuition when you’re involved in relationships and situations that challenge your decision making. If you find that you consistently ignore what your gut is telling you, here are three reasons why you should start listening:
1. Experiencing Avoidable Suffering
When we don’t listen to our intuition we often end up making choices that are not in our best interest, leading us to suffer the consequences of ignoring our intuition. What makes the suffering worse is coming to the realization that you could’ve avoided it all by listening to yourself. We always suffer unnecessarily when we choose to not listen to what we know we should do deep down inside. When you immediately feel an urge to make a choice, listen. You could be saving yourself from a lot of stress, strife and heartache.
2. Losing Trust in Others
Due to the negative results that occur when we ignore our intuition, we end up getting hurt by others as a result. Consistently following in this pattern creates a cycle of disappointment that keeps you from fully trusting people in your life. You’re always looking for the disappointment to happen and try as hard as you can to protect yourself from feeling that pain again. The first step to avoiding this disappointment is to trust what you feel is right and not look to others to make the best decisions for you.
3. Losing Trust in Yourself
At the end of it all, you are ultimately responsible for the consequences you face for ignoring your intuition. When you continue to go against yourself, you continue to lose faith in yourself. Listening to your intuition helps you gain confidence in you and your decision making. We can’t always make the right choice, but we’re better off making the choices that we feel deeply comfortable with.
Ultimately you know what is best for you. You have the power to listen and let your intuition guide you through any situation. It can be difficult to regain that trust within yourself and others once it’s become a deep rooted pattern; if you would like further build your level of trust, contact Philadelphia MFT for more information.
Alanna Gardner, MFT is a sex and family therapist practicing in Philadelphia. She is also a main contributor to TheUrbanRealist. For more advice and encouragement from Alanna follow her here.
