Intuition is really strange because of its indefinable nature. We may not know exactly why our intuition is pushing us toward or away from a decision but there it is, the strange ‘butterflies’ and racing heartbeat, like a magnet that knows things we cannot possibly consciously perceive.
For some people intuition might be a sudden flash of clarity while others might suddenly get a feeling of unease and sweaty palms.
Most surprising is how accurately this otherwise indefinable feeling can guide us. There is never a logical pattern for intuition.
Some people theorize that it is our subconscious mind putting puzzle pieces together much faster than our conscious mind can detect.
Whether or not this theory is correct, there is nothing quite as encouraging as being told to trust your instinct and follow your gut, because they will not lead you wrong.
However, most people don’t really know how to differentiate between real intuition, gut feeling and anxiety. And to be fair, it’s really hard to distinguish one from the other.
Anxiety can sometimes be mistaken for intuition or gut feeling. These 2 emotions are really similar in nature and are felt in the same area of the body. However, one tells you to take a moment and become aware of what you are running away from, while the other can tell you what direction you should take.
Mistaking one for the other might steer you away from a good path just because you have a couple of emotions pending to be felt. It can lead you to follow your fear and not use it in your favor, thinking you are following your intuition.
This is the main difference between Intuition, Anxiety And Gut Feeling:
If you are going to trust your intuition, it’s wise to know how to recognize it. It’s crucial to learn how to differentiate between these 3 elements as each of them can strongly benefit you if used properly.
So here is something that can help you see how these 3 separate elements differ so you can know what to trust:
Intuition
True intuition is more a process than an emotion. It’s what produces the emotion we usually call gut feeling. But intuition does not only produce emotions, it can provide you with knowledge and wisdom about certain topics. Some mystics say that all their teachings come from their intuitive knowledge.
We all have the capacity to be intuitive but most of us lack the trust. We always seek to find scientific evidence even though science can only experiment and observe less than 10% of The Universe we live in. We always seek to have a back up for our knowledge without realizing that no one was born with a guide book. Everyone trusts the knowledge that some people acquired by following their intuition.
Intuition and foresight walk hand in hand. Anyone who has ever had a sudden intuition will attest to how clearly it shows you the world around you, for a few seconds. It’s almost like a flash, where you see how everything connects. That’s because the main operation of intuition is finding patterns and making connections without you being consciously aware.
Anxiety
The feeling of anxiety comes as a reminder that there is something you are running away from in yourself, avoiding to face. We all have many emotions that we avoid feeling, especially empaths. But when there are too many emotions piled up or when they get very intense, then anxiety shows up to remind us that we have important emotions pending to be felt and let go of.
Anxiety is common in the world today because we all try to live like we are emotionless robots. The truth is we are not. That’s not our nature. So we pile up emotions trying to not feel them and anxiety shows up, especially in people who are highly sensitive or empathetic of the world around them.
Anxiety might remind you of something that you are afraid of, and you can use that fear to keep yourself away from danger. There might be emotion that you run away from that will remind you of what you really love doing, of your purpose, of who you really are. Running away from that might lead you to panic attacks.
Gut Feeling
This is the product of intuition. The gut signals you emotionally when something is not right, or if there is an important direction you should take.
According to some psychologists, gut feeling is a result of your subconscious mind processing big chunks of data much faster than your conscious mind can get even aware. This generated information is too big and complex for your conscious mind to understand so it is converted into an emotion.
As you begin to trust in your own gut instinct, you slowly realize that it will not fail you to do the right thing in most cases, even where logic seems to dictate otherwise. But depending only on your gut feeling and intuition, discrediting any other information or fact, is not wise. In the face of overwhelming contradictory proof, it is much wiser to think before your decision making process.
Your gut feeling is not always right. It is most of the time, but not always. The data and variables that your subconscious mind calculates can sometimes miss a crucial detail that changes the whole picture. Your intuition might sometimes create patterns and make connections where there are none. It’s best to learn and use both, your subconscious and conscious mind. Trust the one but examine with the other.
