“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

When I was a young lass, growing up climbing trees and taking deep dives into our pool at home, I had a motto. “Ek sal self!” (“I’ll do it myself” in Afrikaans) was the response I would give any well meaning attempt to help me to achieve the tasks I set out to master. As an adult I now value this early motivation I had to understand life, to come to grips with its nuances, and be able to interpret and respond to the challenges it is constantly dishing up. We do not get to ride on anyone else’s coat-tails in this life, not without feeling the emptiness that comes with receiving things without the battle of overcoming the challenges. At the same time we do need to accept assistance. Nothing valuable was ever achieved entirely alone. Just as it takes a village to raise a child, so too does it take a collection of people to achieve anything of real substance.

This process of self-determination is a vital aspect of living an intuition led life. The relationship with your own inner voice is a journey that no-one can walk for you. It is the most rewarding journey you will ever take and it is the source of all authentic discovery.

This journey of curious learning brings many surprises and synchronicity is the guide to escort you along the path. As I’m writing this I am watching my friend, Dan Boshoff, perform a gorgeous acoustic set at a Port Elizabeth restaurant at Summerstrand Village.

Watch the live videos I posted here: https://www.facebook.com/i.am.kenaz/videos/10157912280613644/ and on my instagram @merikenaz.

I mentioned to Dan about my writing this piece on intuition, and that I’m featuring Steve Jobs. And so he pointed me to the wall above the kitchen door. What would be written there is clearly a synchronous show of goodwill for the thread of thought I’m engaging with, and a classic example of how these intuitive nudges work. A wonderful quote by none other than Steve Jobs, on nothing other than intuition. So here is your bonus quote:

“Coming back to America was, for me, much more of a cultural shock than going to India. The people in the Indian countryside don’t use their intellect like we do, they use their intuition instead, and their intuition is far more developed than in the rest of the world. Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect, in my opinion.
Western rational thought is not an innate human characteristic; it is learned and is the great achievement of Western civilization. In the villages of India, they never learned it. They learned something else, which is in some ways just as valuable but in other ways is not. That’s the power of intuition and experiential wisdom.
Coming back after seven months in Indian villages, I saw the craziness of the Western world as well as its capacity for rational thought. If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there’s room to hear more subtle things—that’s when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before. It’s a discipline; you have to practice it." - Steve Jobs

And with that, until next #intuitionmonday, I rest my case.

Alright, one more quote for good measure:
“Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect, in my opinion.” Steve Jobs