Are Your Fears Masquerading as Inner Guidance?

I’ve had a couple of experiences recently, which were great reminders that when desire and attachment to desire are in the picture, I am in no position to discern clear inner guidance. To discern clear guidance, you have to move into the neutral zone. It’s interesting to note that in both experiences, I was being sold something. The theme of one temptation was love, the other was money.

It’s true that when something is right for you, you feel the flush of enthusiasm. Something feels right. Maybe you hear that still small voice within guiding you. Maybe you receive an image that gives you the answer you seek. Yet in the heat of the moment, subtlety goes out the window and all you can see, hear or feel is your mind. Your ego gets very attached to certain outcomes, especially those revolving around love, money and safety. Fears come up that you might not get what you want another way. Sales people play upon such fears. You might not get the same chance tomorrow, they say. The price may be different. What you want may not be there.

Unfortunately, a lot of people feel this same sense of pressure in a recession. “Should I take the job I don’t really want?” “Should I drop my prices?” “Should I give up my dreams?” Have the courage to get really quiet to hear what your inner guidance tells you. Wisdom is guiding us all the time, no matter what our situation is. There’s always a choice that feels right.

Check in with your guidance several times over a period of a few days if possible. Certainly with a night’s sleep in between. Start to notice how different some things look from one day to the next. And notice what always remains true. What endures is the truth deep down in your heart. The truth you cannot run away from. That truth is your inner guidance, the truth that guides you to live the fullness of who you truly are, even if it looks different from how your mind would like it to look.