Some people believe knowledge is power, and indeed, it was only when Einstein declared, "Knowledge is limited - it is imagination which encircles the world", that many began to re-evaluate this original premise.
The genius, Einstein, also stated, "The problems that exist in the world today cannot be solved by the level of thinking that first created them", which begs the question,"Given the scale of some of our problems, where on earth do we begin?"
The answer lies in the unconscious mind, believe it or not, and in the unleashing of our intuition.
Millions of years ago, before humans developed the use of intellect, we possessed a survival instinct so powerful it enabled us to become the most successful species on the planet. As with all other creatures in the animal kingdom, we had a heightened sense of perception, a sixth sense, if you like, completely intangible, nothing to do with logic or facts, yet totally real, fail-safe in operation and proving vital to the success of our everyday lives.
With the passing of time and the development of human intellect, we have now gone so far the other way, that we no longer seem to show faith in, or even value, anything other than the blatantly obvious, the totally factual, the perfectly visible and the efficiently logical. As sad as it is real, the power of our intuition has simply been lost through abject neglect and total lack of use over time……yet this capacity is still available to us, today, if only we would choose to use it.
We do all, occasionally, manage to use it, albeit unwittingly and generally, when we do, we tend to write these moments of insight and genius off as mere coincidences or the odd stroke of luck, simply because we cannot explain them. Just imagine, though, what life might be like if we were able to tap into this treasure trove at any time and so live a very deliberate life instead of an accidental one.
Our unconscious mind creates everything in our life based on the messages and information we send it. Starting from as early as in the womb, into birth, through our childhood and teenage years, then into adulthood and beyond, we collect information like sponges and store it, filing it all away in our unconscious mind. How much of that collection or clutter, though, proves to be of real, purposeful use? Most of it just gets in the way of clear thinking.
90% of our mind, where the unconscious lies, regulates everything our body needs so it can function healthily, such as blood flow, heart action, lung capacity, liver function, cell reproduction and everything else that is completely outside of our awareness. This part of the mind, the right brain, is also the home of our imagination, where all our emotions, experiences, memories, actions and reactions can be found - our treasure trove of power and the part we are able to access whilst daydreaming or when asleep. The conscious mind is the bit we use whilst awake and what a good job it is, too, that we can leave those all-important bodily functions to their own devices or we would be totally exhausted having to consciously think through every action ourselves!
The other 10% is the home of our left brain - excellent at helping us make decisions, but riddled with tightly compact beta waves bombarding our brain, doing their utmost to keep us in condition, red-alert. Left brain allows us to work through things logically and maintain order and has generally been the approach taught to us in solving our problems. Our childhood conditioning and schooling, together with entering adulthood and the world of work, means we are highly adept at using our left brain. Its importance and reliance on language and facts cannot be underestimated, however, the left brain is limited and does not give us access to our imagination.
The problem is that we face our most challenging times during our waking hours, when involved in business, family matters, relationship issues and the like. Very much left brain driven, this is when our conscious mind is guiding the way, which is a real pity given we now know that we are only using around 10% of the mind here. Somehow, we have to find a way to also access our creative 90% at these times so that we achieve whole-brain thinking and therefore can operate smarter, not harder, and, hence, find the powerful solutions we need.
To access the unconscious, we need to tap into that imaginative, intuitive side, as opposed to the logical, systematic left brain. The messages you send to the former are essentially your thoughts, beliefs and actions - all stored away over years of time, neatly or otherwise, yet quite accessible if we only knew how to reach into them and re-open the files. All our answers lie here…….and that is all your intuition is - that strange feeling you have when you can sense something is wrong, or when you know something is right - that's because you have indeed experienced something like it before. You simply stored the earlier sensation away and forgot all about it. It's just that now, experiencing something similar, you don't know or are unable to explain where the hunch is coming from - but it is most definitely real, totally outside the realms of reason and logic, yet likely to be the very answer you are looking for!
The dictionary definition of intuition is "quick and ready insight". It comes from the Latin word, "intueri" which means "to see within". It is a way of knowing, or sensing the truth without knowing how or why - it has no explanation - it just is. It is that lovely, blissful feeling we find during times of complete relaxation, when our right brain is fully engaged (usually on the edge of sleep and all seems well in our world) that our best ideas surface. Have you not found that all such gems come to us upon waking or when we are just about to fall asleep? If only it could always be like that! It most certainly can - this is what we call being in alpha state - completely free of concern and living totally purposeful lives - something our doctors need to start advocating instead of prescribing Prozac!
We all have intuition - we are all born with it. We used it as children, going on gut instinct, but as we grew older, we were taught to reason and rationalise and, as our minds developed, ironically, we lost touch with our greatest gift. We have since ignored it, cast it aside and have now completely forgotten how to use it. Is it any wonder then, that we can never find it when we need it the most?
Just like any other under-used muscle, your intuition can be strengthened and exercised back into shape and it is through rediscovering this amazing capacity that we can all reinvent ourselves and our organisations if we are really serious about wanting to be, do and have the best we can in life.
If you would like to find out more about imagination, intuition and inspiration and how they could help you and your organisation, please visit www.inspirationalwinners.com or call 0161-877 5579 and ask for Yasmin Dewan.
