A friend of mine recently SHOUTED gently in my ear that the basis of his reality was intuition, love, joy, creativity and accomplishment…..and added that these five elements should also be the foundation upon which I create my own reality. The impact I felt was not because of  volume but resonance.

As we discussed what reality/our own personal lives are, I became more and more aware that the principles I espouse or maybe it would be better said, the principles to which I give lip service, are not really the principles by which I live.

Exposed!  Okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic.  Because, I face that dichotomy at the end of every year.  There’s always so much talk about New Year’s Resolutions, it can’t be totally ignored.  So I do give thought to changes I would like to have made in years past and whether I did or didn’t make them.

I noticed right off that critical judgements, gossiping, regretting, fear, hate, jealousy, awfulizing and feeling sorry for myself are not included in those five elements.  My friend suggested that perhaps basing one’s life on a clear foundation of criteria would mean focusing on them, on them alone.  That would also mean sorting and eliminating everything else.  And…..so there we are…..that would mean I would have to control my thoughts.

A few months ago, I was introduced to meditating.  I was resistant at first because my mind was so full of clutter.  Random thoughts seem to pop in and out so quickly and meditating makes me so much more aware of them.  But, gradually my whole nervous system began to cooperate.  Like everything, I guess, “practice makes automatic!”

I think the benefit of meditating is that it’s calming and quieting and in that state I can listen.  When I listen, I can even hear myself.

So what I’ve learned and what I’m sharing with you is that paying attention to my own intuition leads to love, joy, creativity and accomplishment.  Intuition is like a trail head.  It’s a starting point that leads down paths of love, happiness and fulfillment.  Wow!  It’s amazing to me that one conversation can cause such a life altering light bulb moment.  I’m so thankful for friends.