Whether you call it following your heart, a gut feeling, a hu
nch or intuition, Instinct-the inner knowledge bubbling up from a wellspring of wisdom within-can lead to a bigger, elephant-sized life.
Instinct has a rhythm
Our instincts are the treasure map for our soul’s satisfaction. Following our instincts can make the crucial distinction between what we are good at–our vocation or skill set–and what we are good for–the fulfillment of our purposeful potential. When you’re truly engaged with your life’s calling, whether in the boutique, the banquet hall, or the boardroom, you rely on something that cannot be taught.
When you are living by instinct, then you will naturally enhance everything and everyone around you. In other words, success will come naturally! When both your intellect and instincts are aligned, then producing the fruits of your labors brings satisfaction beyond measure.
Now, it will still require hard work and dedication on your part, but the internal satisfaction will fuel your desire to achieve even larger dreams. Based on the fact that we are all inherently creative people, if we are in touch with our instincts, then we will naturally increase our endeavors. When you don’t become fixated on winning the prize or appearing successful, and instead pursue your passions, then you will discover the fulfillment that comes from living by instinct.
Making room for instincts to operate
One of the things the zoologist taught me emerges out of the fact that many times when the animals appear to be roaming in the wild, they are still contained by fences. Though the landscape appears to go on for infinity, it has limitations. Though the wild habitat appears natural, the animals are still fenced in.
As a result, the gamekeepers and wildlife specialists must burn off excess brush in order to maintain the ecological equilibrium. This brush-burning technique is done to simulate the amount that roaming herds would consume if they weren’t fenced in.
Similarly, we must use directed effort to control misdirected effort. If you’re consumed by busyness at the expense of real business, perhaps you should set a new and different kind of fire. When you burn off the the clutter of busyness and leave yourself time to think and study, you may get less done, but the things you do will be far more productive and ultimately more organic to what you are passionate about accomplishing.
The fringe benefit of burning off the brush is as much clearer view of the terrain ahead. No one can see beyond their sight lines. And when cluttered with obstructions, our vision will always be impaired.
- Where do you need to clear a path so that you have room to maneuver toward your ultimate destination?
- What needs to be burned away in order to refine what you’re focused on finding?
- How can you unblock your view of who you are, what you could be, and where you could go?
Extra edge
Finding the thing you were created to do can be a dubious task, highlighted by the fact we generally don’t have time to do the soul-searching that is required to find the hidden clues to unlock our fullest and best potential. Instead we fill out an application, gain a reasonably good-paying job, and go to work for someone who found the thing they were created to do!
Have you maximized your findings, or only stored the data and acquiesced to the mundane routine of fitting in with what has already been done?
Now, all of us aren’t created to lead a country like the president or compose a classical concerto like Mozart. Instead many of us are, in fact, intended to be a support to these high achievers and realize our dreams by the often-fulfilling task of using our gifts and talents to support a person in power. But even in these roles, the people who live out their opportunities with advancement and promotion do so because they always sense the extra and not just the ordinary!
Whether you work in a government office, a cubicle, a courthouse, or the corner of your apartment, your instincts know truths that can enhance your performance and increase your productivity. There is one thing that is needed to find fulfillment in life: to find that place in life, that station of being, where all that is within you resonates with the challenge before you. This is the spot where inborn natural and innate creativity soars into the horizon of possibility! It’s the extra edge that some use and others do not!
Complement Instinct with Osho on Intuition: Knowing beyond logic. Intuition is the highest rung of the ladder, the ladder of consciousness.