The Land Beyond Intellect

I’ve been asked why I named my book beyond intellect instead of unleash the power of your intuition. That’s a fair question, so I thought I’d try to answer it.

We live in a task-oriented, skill-based society. After the question, “What is your name?” is answered; the next question is usually, “What do you do?” Normally our intellect is the designated driver, as we speed down the highway of life following the road signs that will lead us, as quickly as possible, to more and bigger accomplishments.

Intuition is not a skill. It is not one more way to establish how right we are and how much we know. Intuition is not a GPS navigation system to relieve us from having to stop and ask for directions or take the time out to assess where we are going and why so fast.

When we are willing to allow all aspects of ourselves to commune, we begin to form new and varied opportunities to receive specific and timely insights. When we allow our intellect to take the co-pilot position, it can finally rest from its never-ending problem solving, and daydream for a bit. When we encourage our intellect to relax, then our imaginative mind can be rekindled, rejuvenated, and renewed.

When we have amassed enough answers and are secure enough within, it becomes timely to ask ourselves the deeper questions that go beyond self-centered, or other-centered, to the place where soul-centered resides.

When our lives are moving at breakneck speeds, and our eyes are rigidly locked on future external goals, we miss the subtleties and nuances of life. We cannot connect with our inner guidance, or resources, because we have opted for life in the fast lane. We fast-forward through the labyrinth of our minds and hearts, and then we complain when we are stuck with lives that are unfulfilled, and colorless.

When we shift our focus from seeing our lives as a never-ending problem to be solved, and open to our unique life as a vibrant reality to be experienced, we begin to accept and flow with the shifts and changes that allow increased personal expansion of our understanding, knowledge, and peace of mind.

The journey into the wisdom of our intuitive mind requires that we make new choices that begin to connect us with the exquisite sensitivity within our deepest being.

Our inner wisdom houses our passionate longings and our emotion-laden and crippling criticisms that have been allowed to hold us hostage, tied to a treadmill of life-numbing mediocrity.

When we invite our intellect and our emotions to form a sacred partnership, we are forever touched and transformed by the beauty and bravery of what it means to be authentically human. It takes a strong and flexible intellect to be willing to hold the paradox of actively assessing who we are today, while also musing, visualizing and courting our highest and best vision of who we will become.

The benefit of going beyond what we already know is that we enter into the fertile field of imaginative perception. When we quiet our mind, we can begin to transform our lives away from endless striving for elusive perfection, and open to, and allow ourselves to shift towards life choices that enhance our sense of basic goodness and the basic goodness of our lives.

As we move beyond categorizing and locking our thoughts and feelings into compartments labeled good/bad, and right/wrong, we activate our higher intelligence. As we embark on the journey beyond intellect, our inner wisdom calls, beckoning us to enter and explore the doors marked soften, open, deepen, and strengthen. Here is where we discover new ways of seeing. Self-acceptance transforms our lives from striving to thriving, as we learn to make discerning choices that encourage us to enter into a fulfilling and enriching partnership with life.