Leap Before You Look
by Tabby Biddle
In our American culture it has been taught for a long time that the important things are outside of us … that we are meant to compete, achieve and bring home more goodies than our neighbor. This outlook on living has been going on for so long that it has actually become considered a bold and daring move to ask ourselves how we feel and what we truly need. With things unraveling as they are, it might be time to try something different.
Most of us waiver between the need for structure and the desire for our life to be exciting, unpredictable and exhilarating. In our culture it seems that most decisions are made from logic … I’m going to make more money at this job, so I will take it; I’m going to…, so I will…
But what about decisions that are made based not on the head as director, but on hunches, feeling, and dare I say … intuition?
I have lived my adult life as an intuitive decision-maker. At age 26, I left the perfect job, boyfriend, friends, family and lifestyle to travel through Asia on a hunch. Coming from the background of being a super-planner, type-A personality, competitive and Miss Calendar Girl who had her datebook filled to the gills with activities for the upcoming six months, I wanted to see what life would be like to live from my gut, live in the moment and make decisions based not on logic, but on intuition.
Quite an experiment it was and continues to be!
It seems that as things are changing before us, the fiber of what we knew (or at least thought) American culture to be, there is a lot of questioning about our next steps. Should we try and rebuild what he had? Should we start fresh? Is there some hybrid of what was and what could be?
Battened down and frazzled with our To-Do lists, pushed and pulled by the “shoulds” and obsessively trying to be all things to all people, it seems that many of us have abandoned one of our greatest powers and resources — our very own inner-wisdom.
So as we move forward onto this new stage, how will you make decisions? What will guide you? Will you look before you leap or leap before you look?
Tabby Biddle is a writer and editor specializing in helping women entrepreneurs and emerging authors get their message out. Additionally she is the founder of Lotus Blossom Style, a yoga lifestyle company created to support women in their personal transformation. She lives in Santa Monica, CA.