A few years ago, my sister told me about a man and his family who had moved to Asheville, North Carolina, where she also resided. They were building a house in the hills near the city, and one Sunday, the man drove out to check on the progress of the construction crew, taking a toddler with him.
The little boy fell asleep in the car, and the man decided to let him catch a nap while he inspected the site.
After taking a few steps, however, for some inexplicable reason, he felt uncomfortable about leaving the child alone. He took the boy in his arms, walked through the house, came back to his vehicle, and found that a black bear had climbed into the car through an open window and was happily gobbling up some cookies.
How the man removed the bear from the car, I have no idea, but listening to his gut may have saved his son’s life.
Another example: Every year, my Latin students took the National Latin Exam. We used the syllabus and practice tests to prepare for the ordeal, and I would also review some general test tips.
“If you finish early,” I would tell them, “take a couple of minutes to clear your brain and then recheck your work. And remember,” I would always add, “don’t change any answer unless you know for certain that it’s wrong. Even though you can’t explain exactly why, your first instinct may have been right on target.”
“When my husband and I shopped for our first house, we looked at more than 20 properties on the market. None of them seemed to fit our detailed checklist of the perfect home. I grew frustrated and called my mom. ‘Forget the list,’ she said. ‘When you walk in the front door of your house, you'll just know it.’ Three days later, as I stepped onto the slightly sloping porch of a charming 1926 Spanish stucco three-bedroom with our realtor, I realized my mother was right. It had only one bathroom and desperately needed paint and a new air-conditioning unit, but somehow, I knew I was home.”
To some, these gut feelings may appear unreliable, even goofy. In our age of technology with its mantra “Follow the science,” we might view as irrational those who say, “I can’t explain it, but this is the perfect house for me.”
Yet this sixth sense, which one online dictionary defines as “a supposed intuitive faculty giving awareness not explicable in terms of normal perception,” is not the equivalent of looking into a crystal ball. Whether it’s falling in love at first sight, avoiding a certain street at night, or deciding to buy a friend a birthday gift that leaves her walking on air, intuition comes into play.
Of course, misinterpreting this sixth sense can also be dangerous. Most of us, for instance, have at times misread the motives of those around us. In her article, Oakley cites Judith Orloff, psychiatrist and author of “Guide to Intuitive Healing,” who warns that “Fear, desire, and panic can all get in the way of intuition. It’s important to really focus on that inner voice.”
“Maybe you’re trying to decide if you should take a new job that pays twice the salary as your current one. Your head says ‘Of course! That’s a lot of money,' but you notice that you feel a little sick to your stomach or exhausted. That’s an intuitive cue that you should step back and really examine the offer,” Orloff said.
Most of us think and plan before making major decisions, but let’s not forget that the gut feeling of intuition might play a part in that equation.
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