Intuition is a big part of my life. I believe the more I listen to it, the more it talks to me. Conversely, I worry that when I don’t listen to it, my intuition might stop talking to me. I believe the more I tune into it the more it honors me with the information it has.

The catch is, intuition can only communicate with me when I listen to it. It can send me messages but until I stop, and register, “Oh this is my intuition. I need to listen right now” the voice gets ignored and the message goes unheard and opportunities get missed.

What is intuition really? I define it simply as a higher knowing from a higher, all encompassing, bigger picture perspective. Some think of it as the voice of your soul. Others think it comes from their angels or guides or other life overseers like our ancestors, and/or all of the above, including God/Goddess. Some think of it more as a natural urge emanating from their innate, gut instinct.

Most agree the voice of their intuition is subtle, like a whisper, and easily missed if they aren’t tuned in. It often doesn’t shout. Too often we take it as a suggestion and then regret not taking it as dictation.

What’s confusing is that sometimes I will get a spark of intuition about something but my mind overrides it because the message at the time doesn’t fit with what I already know about the circumstances. I might hear the message, “Go grab your umbrella”, when I know it’s not going to rain, when really it’s because my shopping list is laying on the table near my umbrella and if only I had listened I would have seen my shopping list and then known why I heard it that way.

Other times we may get a strong, intuitive hit about a decision we’re trying to make and it doesn’t make sense to others in our group who will be mutually impacted by the decision.

For instance, when we bought a house last year, as I was waking up the day final bids were due, I heard clearly, “Hold tight on your original offer, don’t bid higher, they’ll take it.” My husband and our realtor felt that if we didn’t come back with more money we’d lose it to one of the other 3 top bidders, so I went with the wisdom of the group and we did fortunately get the house, but a year later I am still wondering what might have happened if I had listened to my intuitive voice that morning and insisted that we hold on the original bid. I don’t have buyers’ remorse (we love the house) but I was left with a very definite feeling of process remorse because I didn’t listen to my beloved intuition.

So, how can we sharpen our intuitive abilities?

1. Trust your intuition over appearances. We can actively tune into our sixth sense and go with it every chance we get even if our mind says, “No, that can’t be right.” It probably is right. Intuition is about trusting your subtle, higher voice of wisdom even when it doesn’t jive with appearances.

2. We can keep track of our intuitive hits and how things turn out. The more we practice receiving and following our higher awareness the more we strengthen our trust in our intuitive voice. Confidence comes naturally as we rack up more hits than misses.

3. We can ask our intuition questions and be open for answers. Start with simple questions that start with “I wonder….” The answer may come from surprising places reminding us how connected we are to higher awareness.

4. Know when the past is fogging how you use your intuition’s messages in the present. With intuition, the past doesn’t have any bearing on the present. Intuition is always in present tense. In those times when we don’t listen, it is often past experience coloring how we are seeing the present.

5. Sometimes we need to defend our higher, and at times, unexplainable, nonsensical, wisdom, and to do that we need to trust it ourselves. The best way to learn to trust one’s intuition is to play with it. Be light with it but be committed to it. Know it is always there for you.

Humility, confidence, trust, openness, and thinking outside the box are all apart of intuition. So, how often should you trust your intuition? The answer is…100% of the time! Your intuition will never lead you astray. It is the voice of your higher awareness. It is always acting in your favor and for your highest good. Trust it today, tomorrow and always.