Probably the most important lesson I have learned in developing my intuition is to trust and act on "knowing without knowing why.
" Most often this empathic connection; an acute feeling sense, happens between family members and close friends.
But it can also happen with our pets.
A few nights ago this happened when my daughter's friend was hanging out.
The four of us sat down to have dinner.
One minute we were immersed in conversation and the next we were silenced.
"Hold on a minute" my daughter's friend said.
"I think I hear my dog barking".
"I didn't hear anything" I said.
"Are you sure"? "Yes, I know his bark and I have this funny feeling that something is wrong".
Have you had this happen; have you received an internal distress signal that interrupts your normal activity? You have this strong sense that things are out of sorts, you feel alarmed, now what do you do? Experience is our best teacher.
And from years of listening, coaching, and going through this personally, I recommend you "heed the call".
In the book "The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence" Gavin De Becker says,...
"When you honor accurate intuitive signals and evaluate them without denial, you need not be wary.
You come to trust that you will be notified if there is something worthy of your attention.
The role of fear in your life lessons as your mind and body come to know that you will listen...
We can welcome fear with a "thank you God for a signal I can act on".
Amazed as I was that Jaz could hear her dog, I urged her to go take a look.
I was worried because no one was home at her house.
Her mom was working late.
So I turned on our outside light, stood by the front door and waited while she and my daughter went to check things out.
My daughter kept phone contact with Jaz as she walked inside.
I saw the lights go on in the garage and both girls returned together a few minutes later.
"What happened? Was your dog okay" I asked.
"I am glad I went home" she said.
"I found my dog trapped under our bikes in the garage.
He must have jumped up to get something and the bikes toppled on him.
He wasn't hurt, but he could have been struggling to get free"...
"I am so glad you heard him, and trusted your feelings.
I dread to think what could have happened if you hadn't" I said.
Some years back, I remember suddenly feeling pressure in my head, and tightness in my upper chest.
I had this persistent thought, insisting that I call a friend I have known since High School.
We'd kept in touch and I visited when I went east, but it had been awhile.
Part of me was hesitant because I felt uncertain about what I was going to say.
But I couldn't get past this horrid feeling that had a grip hold on me.
I dialed her number and my friend's husband answered the phone.
"Hi, this is Stephanie from California.
Is Bes there"? "No, she just left.
Her mother had a heart attack.
Bes is on her way to the hospital right now"...
The news was shocking on so many levels, as you can imagine! I called within minutes of Bes getting this awful news, "knowing" something was wrong...
Bes' mother played such an influential role in my life growing up.
She always encouraged my interest in metaphysics.
When I visited their house we had tea and talked about Edgar Cayce, Carl Jung, and Ram Dass.
Throwing the I Ching coins and interpreting the hexagrams became a ritual.
And in spite of time passing and the distance between us, my connection to her remained intact on the deepest level.