“I’ve trusted the still, small voice of intuition my entire life. And the only time I’ve made mistakes is when I didn’t listen.” -Oprah Winfrey
I’m working on listening to my heart. Trusting my inner guidance has been an ongoing process. One morning last August, I prayed to be shown how to listen and act on what I know to be true. I have trouble paying heed to the small voice attempting to guide me. It’s hard to hear it over the clatter in my brain, trying to figure everything out.
Later that day, I took our dog, Quigley, outside with me to check the mail. As we walked toward the mailbox, he darted to the side of the house. He frantically began searching for something in the bushes. As I rushed over, my instincts screamed to get him out of there. Then the thought hit me. My husband, Bob, would say to leave Quigley alone because he was after the vole that had been eating the roots of our plants. What did I do? Against my higher judgement, I stood by and watched. I could hear the critter rustling and then came a loud hiss. Quigley sprang back. To my horror I saw a yellow glob of goo oozing down the top of head, into his eye. I didn’t know what to make of it until an acrid smell hit my nostrils. Quigley had been sprayed by a skunk!
Quigley is an Australian Blue Heeler that we rescued.
Removing the stench off of him was quite a process. After bathing him daily for a week, he still had to be confined to the basement. It was a whole month before the unmistakable smell was completely gone. If I had only listened to what my intuition told me, I wouldn’t have had to deal with the foul odor that relentlessly clung to my dog.
If earth is a school, the class I must be taking is Trust Your Gut 101. Our inner guidance is an illuminated lantern to help us from stumbling on our path. I’ve heard it said that the universe talks to us first in a whisper and then gets louder and louder until we get the message. The way that whisper was amped up on that morning last summer makes me laugh. It’s nice to know God has a sense of humor. There is nothing like the smell of skunk to drive home a point.
Funny that such a benign looking little creature can cause such havoc.
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Commonplace Grace 
I thought I’d learned this lesson already but I guess I have to KEEP learning it. This morning I went running with members of my running club. I thought I only needed one layer of shirts. Then I saw that all the other women were wearing two layers. So against my better judgement, I put on a second shirt. It didn’t take long before I was roasting and had to peel off that layer. Simple example–but I did this AFTER reading your post! Guess I need to take “Trust Your Gut 101” also. 🙂
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Hahaha. I’m pretty certain “Trust Your Gut 101″ is a class I will never graduate. 🙂
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Oh, Sue, this is exactly what I have believed for many years and I too, have stories of when I didn’t listen to that small angel/God voice either in my brain or in my heart. I loved your story and can really identify! Not only does God and our guardian angel have a sense of humor when it’s appropriate, but they gave that to us as well as part of learning our way.
I’ve always thought that most of the time we are on the right track and DO listen and hear God and our angel’s advice and direction, but we only learn of the times when we don’t! And some of those lessons can really make the point clearly!!
I think you are absolutely correct that Earth is our school and we all struggle to make it through ‘Trust your intuition 101’!! We learn as we travel through out lives. I also believe that when we have learned all the lessons God wants us to this trip, we leave and then return when it’s time to learn some more lessons. Eventually we will get them all and THEN we can stay with God and our angels in Heaven, wherever that is. Sometimes it feels like it is right here, just beyond a door we haven’t yet seen.
I LOVE your fanciful drawings of your beloved dog and even the ‘smelly skunk!! They are kind of cute little critters as long as they leave me and those i love ALONE!!
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I love your spin on how life works. I share your beliefs but you express them a little differently than me. Somehow your expression bring my beliefs into clearer focus. Thank you! xo
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Thank you Sue! It’s amazing because when I was writing my comments, I thought the same of you – that you are such a clear writer of your beliefs!! We must be spiritually connected!!
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