W<\/span>hat is \u201cintuition?\u201d We mystify the word, but it needn\u2019t be mysterious: Intuition is our brain\u2019s ability to perceive what is beyond our immediate experience. We all have this ability, though our lives and attitudes sometimes occlude it from us.<\/p>\n Often simple changes in perception and behavior can open up profound abilities. And this adjustment can take place at any time. It\u2019s simply a matter of opening the door.<\/p>\n There has been extensive research by top universities over the last half-century on the ability of the human mind to do things that seem magical. These studies are even more impactful now that we have the instrumentation to measure how the human brain responds without relying on humans to report subjectively.<\/p>\n There is convincing evidence readily available online, demonstrating that you can describe a remote location you have never seen, know (and react) to what others are thinking and feeling at a distance, and even accurately predict future events.<\/p>\n I want to share some of these skills with you now. These techniques have worked for many people of many different ages. These simple shifts in attention will help you create the life you want while fully engaging in your life at any age and in any situation.<\/p>\n Intuition responds to a \u201ctarget\u201d or focus, which is often a need or a question. It is hard for intuition to find your solutions when your focus is on what went wrong\/could go wrong\/did go wrong.<\/p>\n So what can you do right now that you enjoy or that contributes to a more successful life? By focusing on the available resources despite the limitations, you may find opportunities and pleasures you didn\u2019t know you had.<\/p>\n The human mind is hardwired to be alert to threats and privation from outside ourselves. That\u2019s how we survive. But enjoying your life \u2013 creating your best life \u2013 requires that you be just as alert to the impact you can have in this moment. There is always plenty in our lives that is missing, imperfect, and even frightening. We need to be aware of all those things without letting them become obstacles to what we can delight in, accomplish, and explore.<\/p>\n If you repress the limitations, you also repress the solutions. Intuition will not give you information about something that you refuse to be aware of. The subconscious will keep the information sub-conscious in an effort to defend your false perceptions.<\/p>\n Sometimes the reality of a situation is not what we wish it were. There is a tendency to look away from what is difficult. Working against reality is uncomfortable \u2013 even downright dangerous. It also obscures opportunities that limitations might paradoxically reveal.<\/p>\n Intuition won\u2019t challenge your beliefs. If you don\u2019t entertain the possibility of success, intuition won\u2019t \u201clook\u201d for it. Be disciplined about \u201ckeeping the faith\u201d when you have a goal.<\/p>\n Even if you don\u2019t believe that change is possible for you, your engagement in a hopeful journey will yield unexpected joys \u2013 and you may find that the only thing standing between you and your dreams is you!<\/p>\n It is easy to forget how hard it is to be young in our youth-obsessed culture. One of my favorite quotes is Fausto Coppi\u2019s \u201cOld age, and treachery will always beat youth and skill.\u201d And it tends to hold true as long as those of us who are a bit older \u2013 and yes, perhaps a bit more treacherous \u2013 embrace the moment.<\/p>\n Respect where you are in life, and define it for yourself. Start a new career. Fall in love. Make friends of all ages. Start new stories. Finish old ones that no longer serve you.<\/p>\n When you allow yourself to acknowledge your need instead of burying it or giving up on it, your intuition sets it as a goal and nudges you into the experiences and connections that fulfill it.<\/p>\n An old Garth Brooks song has a line I love: \u201cThank God for unanswered prayers.\u201d Just take a moment now to remember some of the things you once prayed for. Yikes! If you had had every desire answered timely, chances are your life would be a mess.<\/p>\n You have a wise core that always works for you, even if it has to work against your conscious drives. Some of those \u201cunanswered prayers\u201d may be worth pursuing.<\/p>\n In fact, it may be only now in your life that they are safe to pursue. The one person you should never give up on is yourself. Try finding those experiences you never had, but in a way that works in your life now. Don\u2019t assume anything is impossible. As you embark on some of your dreams, you may no longer truly want them. Yet others may bring you to unanticipated and deeply meaningful destinations.<\/p>\n Intuition thrives with a target. A target is a goal. The most comprehensive goals are found when we identify and commit to our purpose.<\/p>\n Purpose and decline are inversely related. A sense of purpose<\/a> has a positive impact on health and well-being.<\/p>\n Find purpose in all you do, and notice where you can be of value and service. Remember that purpose changes. In times of transition, it can be challenging to find it. But giving meaning and respect to everything you do will help you be flexible and open to new avenues of meaning.<\/p>\n Although a sense of purpose you once had may be something you miss, chances are that if you were again confronted with the situation, you had it in, the new you would not experience it the same way. Engagement replaces nostalgia and gives you appropriate and satisfying opportunities to thrive as \u201cthe you,\u201d you are now.<\/p>\n Pretending is not intuitive. Intuition is a survival skill, and if you don\u2019t honestly and accurately identify the terrain, it can\u2019t give you the right tools to navigate it.<\/p>\n There are conflicting studies about whether optimists or pessimists live longer. I have observed that the people who thrive the most are the realists. If the starkness of reality makes you feel hopeless, you are blinding yourself to possibility. But if something is about to fall on your head, reassuring yourself that it won\u2019t isn\u2019t the most intelligent strategy. Move out of the way!<\/p>\n Accepting what is while working toward what\u2019s on the horizon enables you to use the tools you have, dealing with dangers and obstacles yet giving a positive structure to your efforts \u2013 which, in turn, promises better outcomes.<\/p>\n Pleasure Doesn\u2019t Find You. You Find Pleasure \u2013 and, in Doing So, You Create It<\/p>\n One of my favorite homilies is that intuition is just as good at finding you the next disaster as it is at finding you your next success. Intuition is simply a data-gathering tool.<\/p>\n Look for the pleasure in the moment. Make that a goal. Your body is a powerful pharmacy, and when you find the ease, the joy, the comfort that\u2019s always there waiting for you, you empower every one of your cells and your intuition to create more of it.<\/p>\n Fear of the unknown is a natural mammalian quality, but you don\u2019t know what you don\u2019t know. The next moment may be the one that brings you the greatest joy. An ending may be the beginning of something else.<\/p>\n One of my favorite quotes about marriage is, \u201cTill death do us part is for quitters.\u201d Studies of intuition demonstrate how enduring and \u201cnon-local\u201d our awareness, relationships, and personality are.<\/p>\n Well-documented investigations of intuitive abilities like telepathy \u2013 the ability to communicate and receive information non-locally \u2013 raise fascinating questions about the enduring nature of self.<\/p>\n At the risk of sounding like, you know, an intuitive and spiritual teacher, let me just say that one never knows what will come next. If we spend our lives well, we spend them learning how to let go and embrace the next iteration of being.<\/p>\n I am not sure how this dynamic ends, but I would not be surprised to learn that it never does.<\/p>\n Using intuition to have the life you want<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,155],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spring-summer-2022","category-spring-summer-2022-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12408"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12633,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12408\/revisions\/12633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyaging.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Look for the Can-Do<\/h3>\n
Work With and Not Against Limitations<\/h3>\n
Where Belief Fails, Persistence Prevails<\/h3>\n
Give Yourself What You Never Had<\/h3>\n
Look for Purpose in the Moment<\/h3>\n
Empowered, Realistic Thinking Creates Dreams That Really Work for You.<\/h3>\n
It Ain\u2019t Over till It\u2019s Over<\/h3>\n
Laura Day<\/a> has spent three decades helping individuals, organizations, and companies use their innate intuitive abilities to create profound changes in their lives. Her work centers on the demystification of intuition, demonstrating its practical, verifiable uses in business, science, medicine, and personal growth. Day is the author of six books, including Practical Intuition <\/em><\/a>and How to Rule the World from Your Couch<\/em><\/a>.<\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"