Ahhchooo ! The familiar sound of the sneeze in spring time is heard everywhere we go. It is the sound that plagues all allergy sufferers. The itchy eyes, the running nose, the scratching throat are all the symptoms that I and many of my fellow spring lovers have to tolerate while we try to enjoy the spring garden and balance the allergies of the bloom. Be it pollen, the tree sap or the multitude of natures pollination processes that cause our bodies to react adversely to the insulting stimuli, we still plow through the season. Just like the physical body warning us of the environmental allergies and upcoming dangers of walking through a field of pollinating flowers so too warnings from within are ever-present.  We mount a response that may look quite odd to a being from another world, as “they” might say “well if you are reacting to something in a bad way, then do not keep exposing yourself to it.” A brilliant idea but then why do we ignore the internal and external alarms and yet forge on.

The same is true when dealing with life circumstances that do not feel right to us but yet we do it. We stay or take on a job that we know is going to be non progressive or mind numbing. We eat the food that we know is going to make us feel sick afterwards. We stay in a relationship that has become toxic and destructive. We maintain friendships when we know that they are going to become detrimental. We buy something that we know we are going to regret later on  or that we cannot afford to buy it. We take on yet another alcoholic beverage knowing full well that we are already at our limit. There are numerous examples of actions that we take regularly and repeatedly without listening to the universal mind that is connected to your mind and spirit. This universal mind is warning you not to proceed, but we hit the snooze button on our spiritual clock anyway. When the bad outcome occurs, we blame it on luck, fate, God, or anyone else except taking responsibility for our actions.

If we listen with faith, an open heart and mind, we will hear the alarms go off and so make better informed decisions. Some would call it intuition, and others would call it intelligent decision making, and yet others would call it divine intervention. Whether it is “gut feelings” or instinct or what I like to call it, awareness, it is an everpresent tool that we have to ward off dangerous situations. We have the ability to sharpen our senses through practice, and so just like learning to ride a car, we can learn to listen and hear the univeral guide of intention helping us like a “Spidey Sense” used by Spiderman superhero. Precognition is a wonderful thing, yet we have fooled ourselves in the delusion that this cannot be, and foretelling a particular future is impossible.However the gut feelings and instinctive senses are always there. Is this not essentially precognition? Why are we not listening and why are we so quick to hit this snooze button of our intuition?

Our egos run the show and are the ones that hit the button. To prove that we can survive and be the better in the dying relationship, or buy something that is unaffordable and prove that we are richer, or consume that extra alcoholic beverage and be arrogant enough to drive pretending to be sober, or take on that job and love it or die trying to enjoy it. This is what the ego does best. Ignoring the alarm and take the risk of waking up late to your life is a common phenomenon that we all have faced at some point in our lives if not on a daily basis. Being more mindful, quiet, and attentive allows us to discern the gentle voice from within that guides us to better decisions. If practiced well, and carefully and regularly, you can hear the gentle voice and you will learn that it is not a voice ladened with fear and caution, but a voice paved with instruction and beneficial insight.

Tuning in to the universe offers us the chance to bring forth advantageous opportunities and we are guided with more well advised routes. In the end it our free will that makes the choice to take the action or like everything else we do, snooze it by the ego. I would urge you to listen to your Self and the universe as you take on your day. You may find that there are hobbies that you are pursuing that you do not even like, yet you keep doing it with arrogance and misplaced gusto because you “have to.” Redirect your energies to feeding your spirit rather than your ego. Find the things that make you happy, and in turn you will find happiness in all things. I personally do not use an alarm clock to wake up in the morning and I instinctively wake up at the same time every day, fresh and ready to go. No alarm clock, no hitting snooze. No ego, no ignoring the universal mind of intention.

Does your alarm clock talk to you? What does it say?