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A question that often arises is "How do we know what is right for us?" How do we find our 'proper' place in life, whether we are talking about employment, living location, vacation spot, etc? It seems that whatever the question I need to ask, the solution is always the same. Go within...all the answers are there!

This may sound very mystical, but it is really so very simple. It entails simply a return to the innocence of childhood when we had no problem listening to the voices of our invisible friends. Many of you can remember, perhaps, having an invisible playmate, or friend. This is the clue to finding the answers to your questions. It entails a return to listening for the invisible. In other words, to trust your feelings, your intuition, and your inner voice.

I remember hearing that the first answer or feeling that you get in response to a question or situation is the "God" voice speaking. That is your intuition, your unseen helper. So how does one learn to hear this voice? It requires paying attention to your feelings, your hunches, your first impressions — and trusting them. Turn down the volume of the voice that comes after that — the one that doubts and has often something to say that begins with "yes, but...". Instead, turn up the volume of that first quiet whispering. 

Learn to be present, conscious, and aware, so that you can catch that fleeting feeling or whisper when it comes. If your attention is elsewhere, you may fail to notice that any message or guidance came to you. Your mind might be quick to tell you that you didn't hear anything, and that you are simply imagining things.

The key is to trust... trust yourself... trust your first feeling... trust your intuition. Don't pay too much attention to the chatter of the ego telling you of all the problems, the buts, and the what ifs. If you listen to that long enough you will never get anywhere. You will miss the train that carries you to exciting adventures in this daily experience that is your life. The ego can be happy to keep you sitting in your armchair listening to all the possibilities and probabilities of things that could go wrong — comparing, judging, and weighing one possibility against another.

Years ago, my ex and I went on a vacation in Arizona. The first three days of the vacation were spent in Sedona at a Lightworkers and healers gathering. After leaving there, we decided that we would simply trust our intuition and our inner voice as to where we would go. We had rented a car, and our daily scenario looked like this: In the morning, we'd get in the car and ask "spirit" (or that still quiet voice within) which direction to go. We'd "get" a feeling (or sometimes hear an inner prompting) to go North (or East or West). We'd head off. Any time we got to an intersection (luckily we were in the middle of nowhere, so we're not talking city blocks here), we'd ask again "Which way is the way to our Highest Good?"

We had some awesome experiences. One evening, we ended up way at the end of a road, in the yard of a Native American Indian family. The grandmother was sitting at her loom weaving a blanket of traditional design. The grandfather was putting wood in the stove getting ready for a cold night. In the yard stood a hogan (round style building made of earth). It was like going back in time. They invited us to stay the night. The grandmother spoke no English, but the energy of being in her presence was awesome.

Another day, as we again followed the promptings of that inner guidance, we were guided to stop along the side of the road. I was later to find out that we had stopped at Canyon de Chelly. As we walked out on the rocks and looked down into a valley, my whole body started to vibrate. It was an experience like I had never had before, or since. I felt this vibration start from the bottom of my feet and my whole body "hummed" internally. I just stood in awe at this transcendental experience. I did not want to leave that place... it felt so powerful and nurturing.

Another time, we picked up a lone man who was hitchhiking (after much deliberation with our inner voice as to whether it was "safe" to do so). It turned out that this man was on his way home to his wife and kids, and he was an Apache Indian. He invited us to stay the night and we spent the evening with him and his wife sitting around the Franklin stove speaking of all kinds of things... 

Following that inner voice can bring you all kinds of magical experiences. (There were more in that three week process, but these examples give you the idea.) We had wanted a vacation which would "mean something" -- not simply one where we had "toured the sights" and seen "things". By following our guidance and spirit, we were invited into the heart of the region and the heart of the Native Americans who live there. We let go of our mind's chattering (what if, oh no we can't, etc.), and simply trusted in ourselves. It was an experience I cherish to this day.

When we take the ease-full route -- the one that is going with the flow instead of against it -- we open ourselves up to the magic of the Universe. We let the blessings flow towards us instead of choosing a path where our greater good does not reside. 

Go with that inner feeling, that whisper inside your heart. It will always lead you to inner peace, happiness, an abundance of blessings and Love!

Recommended book:

Be Love Now: The Path of the Heart
by Ram Dass.

For more info or to order this book, click here.

About The Author

Marie T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from 1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal growth, and well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own inner source of joy and creativity.

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