‘Figuring out.’ Particularly in spirituality and energy work, it’s often suggested that we avoid trying to ‘figure things out’ and instead – follow our inner guidance. A valuable message, and one I‘ve shared myself.
But sometimes we paint words and phrases with such broad strokes that we give them a bad rap, unfairly, and it can cause confusion.
We can still feel in flow and be following inner guidance when we’re ‘figuring something out.’
When ‘figuring out’ refers to a state of being engaged in focused concentration to solve something specific, where decisions are being made, answers are being found, information is forthcoming, and one feels forward movement – ‘figuring out’ is a valuable part of our experience.
In these times we may be further toward one end of what I call the intuition continuum – that spectrum with thinking/facts/logic on one end and intuition/hunches/inner-wisdom on the other – as we employ our thinking mind more strongly in order to find solutions; but make no mistake there’s always some intuitive guidance coming through in those times, too, which we may not even be aware of.
It’s when we get stuck ‘figuring out’ about so much in our life, in a state of overanalysis or overthinking, ruminating and struggling to predict or control an outcome, going in circles without coming to a resolution – this is where trying to ‘figure it out’ becomes less useful.
When we find ourselves in such a state, it’s time to tune-in to hear what our inner wisdom is telling us feels right about the situation. Take a break for a moment, take a few breaths, get grounded and re-centred and come back to the heart.
This will quiet the thinking mind’s loud voice, give it a rest, and allow us to notice what the intuition has to say.