Every day we receive hundreds of impressions. How often have you thought of someone and then they call? How often have you made an appointment with someone, and you know it is going to be cancelled or changed? How often do you have an urge to go somewhere only to meet someone you have not seen for a long time but have been thinking about?
We used to talk about our grade school teacher having eyes in the back of her head and our mothers instinctively knowing we were up to something we should not be.
Even animals have a sixth sense. During the Second World War, families in Britain and Germany relied on their pets’ behaviour to warn them of impending air raids before official warnings were given. The animals’ reactions occurred when enemy planes were still hundreds of miles away, long before the animals could have heard them coming. Some dogs in London even anticipated the explosion of German V-2 rockets. These missiles were supersonic and hence they could not have been heard in advance.
When we trust our impressions they can forewarn us, help us feel relaxed in new situations, give us creative ideas out of the blue and help us stay calm in stressful situations.
Some people call it their Spidey Sense—such as getting a hunch to take a different route to work only to find out later that you avoided an accident. Or getting a sense to call someone you haven’t talked to in a while only to find out they are in a bit of a rut and needed to know someone cared.
Utilizing this sense, we can both avoid mishaps and be of service to others. We will know when to make that call, avoid that trip, book that flight or take that holiday.
Outwardly we live in extremely disruptive times. Resilience in such circumstances is of key importance – like a life jacket to keep our head above water. Resilience is our ability to anticipate and adapt to challenges, to stay calm in the middle of chaos, and to trust ourselves in the face of doubt. We can build resilience by believing in ourselves and trusting what we sense.
It takes patience to pay attention to our gut feelings, inner knowings, hunches, and premonitions and to trust what they are telling us. But when we do so we may find it easier to navigate through any disruption and uncertainty. We will have the resilience and confidence to keep moving forward to fulfill our hopes and dreams and to help others along the way.
