Or perhaps, how do you trust your gut feelings?

This is one of the huge challenges in a world that worships the intellect and rationality. But even science keeps discovering how well our gut feelings serve us (and continues to try to figure out why, while trying to avoid the conclusion that intuition is real). But it’s all mixed together. Some of it is the human ability to spot patterns, some is information we are getting from our bodies: scents, sensations, sounds that are below the level of our consciousness. We are discovering how closely our brains and digestive systems work together and help each other.
My uncle, the doctor said that annual check-ups rarely caught anything important, but when a patient came in saying that something felt off, there was almost always something very important that they could find that needed treatment. As with many

Too many of us were taught as children to ignore our intuition, but as we grew, we discovered that ‘that feeling’ we had about people or situations were often correct, and ignoring them can lead to regret. Some say your gut feelings are your guardian angels speaking to you. Or in may be your higher self, or some other spirit helper. Or it could be the wisdom of your body. Whatever it is, listen and respect it. You don’t have to always go along with it, but ignoring your gut, or intuition, is like hiring an expert and ignoring their advice.

This year our theme is “Wisdom from Within and Without”. Your gut is your within, so is your inner child. Your feelings may also be a manifestation of your ancestors reaching out to you through your blood and DNA. From without you may be getting nudges from the Divine, or other sources. To ignore these messages is like putting tape over the warning light on your car’s dashboard. The lessons you learn from ignoring those warnings may be very expensive down the road.
This does not negate your free will. Advice is always there to accept or refuse. You may also get conflicting messages from different sources, which really leaves it up to you to make the final decision. But the blink of intuition, the slight pressure in the back of your mind, that nudge, is worth acknowledging before you make your final choice. It’s a gift, don’t waste it.