The Messenger - How You Know

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Monday, 08 September 2008

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May/June

How You Know

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Written by Alan Cohen

Who looks outside, dreams.
Who looks inside, awakens.
––Carl Jung

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking, was seated on an airplane next to a young woman who struck up a conversation with him. When she discovered Dr. Peale was a man of seasoned wisdom, she asked him for help with a dilemma.

“I have been dating two men and both have proposed to me,” she explained. “I’m not sure which one to say ‘yes’ to. Can you help me decide?”

“That’s easy,” Dr. Peale answered.

“Then tell me!” the woman requested.

“I don’t think you should marry either of them,” Dr. Peale stated authoritatively.
“Why is that?” she asked, surprised.

“If you have to ask me who to marry, you’re not in love with either of them,” he answered.

When something is right and good for you, it resonates within you in a compelling and unmistakable way. You know just because you know––not because anyone or anything outside you has convinced you. Your inner being speaks so loudly and clearly that you don’t need confirmation or validation from the outer world.

If you want to know if a potential course of action is right for you, be honest about how you feel about it. If it feels like a fit for you, move with it. If it doesn’t feel like a fit, don’t act on it. If thinking about something doesn’t feel good, doing it is not going to feel better. And if thinking about something feels good, doing it will probably feel even better.

Your guidance speaks to you in a way that is unique and meaningful for you. For some people, that knowing brings a sense of peace or relief, like hearing a familiar favorite song. Others feel tingly, bubbly, or experience a sense of exhilaration and increased life force. Still others feel a visceral sensation––Goosebumps or the hairs on the back of their neck standing up.

Get to know how you personally experience your inner guidance, and then move with it. Practice doing only those things that match your joy, and avoiding deeds that grate against you. Make enthusiasm a prerequisite for action and you will progress to a new level of joy and success in your business and relationships.

If you do not know what choice to make, wait until you receive a stronger impression. Put the issue aside temporarily, ask for guidance from your inner sage, and keep listening and watching for signs. You might receive an insight in a dream; hear a key word from a friend; or someone may recommend a book that sounds interesting to you. You may see a magazine ad with a slogan that speaks to you directly. Or you may simply tap into a stronger feeling. Trust your knowing, however it arrives and expresses. Your answer may come immediately, or it might take a while. But it will come in the perfect way and time.

Other people can suggest, counsel, and guide, but their suggestions are worthwhile only if they resonate with your inner being. Try advice on for size, and accept only what fits you and enhances your life. Someone, something, some place inside you knows. Admit it, trust it, and act on it. You are inherently wise and lovingly guided.

We have been taught we must search the world for answers, while they live within us. Likewise, we do not need to struggle for guidance or spend a lot of time seeking advice. You may receive many opinions from well-meaning and qualified people. Yet since you are the one who must live with your choices, you must make them in accord with your heart.

Adopt the position recommended by Dr. Peale to the young woman: If you love it, you know it. If not, let it go and trust that your own shall find you.

An excerpt from Alan Cohen’s extraordinary new prosperity book, Relax into Wealth: How to Get More by Doing Less. To order the book, attend Alan’s Life Mastery Training in Fiji, or receive his free daily inspirational quote and monthly newsletter, visit www.alancohen.com, email , or 1-800-568-3079.

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