Have you ever struggled to make a decision or enter into a commitment because you didn’t trust your ability to make the right choice? How many times have you gotten a feeling in the pit of your stomach that something was not right? Did you pay attention to your intuition or did you ignore it? Deep in our core, we know what is best for us. So why don’t we trust that?
Some of us were taught as a child that we can’t trust ourselves. Maybe we weren’t able to trust our loved ones or our loved ones were unable to trust us. Sometimes life experiences shatter our trust in ourselves. Perhaps you can recall an event in which you trusted yourself and the outcome was disastrous and painful. The inability to trust yourself can stem from not knowing who we are and what’s important to us. Other times, we know what is right for us but we fail to honor that because of fear, external pressure, or a belief that we are not worthy.
Sometimes we make decisions that don’t turn out as planned. Sometimes, the red flags are there, and we ignore them. Other times, we truly make the best decision we can. Ask any successful entrepreneur about her process of decision-making. She will probably tell you she weighed all the pros and cons and tried to anticipate any problems. She might have looked to the experts for helpful insight. In the end, she made the most informed decision she could. If you ask her if all her decisions were the right ones, she will tell you no. Life changes; people change. Just because something doesn’t work out the way you wanted does not mean you cannot trust yourself in the future.
Make your personal decisions based on what’s most important to you and what works best for you. You can ask other people’s opinions as long as you are willing to pay the most attention to your feelings. If you are unsure of yourself, take the time to really listen to your gut. If you have a relationship with a Higher Power, spend time in prayer or meditation and ask that the truth be revealed to you.