114. Acting From Intuition

The rational mind does not trust what it cannot understand. It works in language, and it tries to comprehend ideas by relating them to other ideas using logic. If it cannot do this, then it abandons the idea as irrational and unjustified.

If the idea in question pertains to the future, then it is often more rational to leave the outcome blank than to make an unjustified prediction. This can be helpful because it limits speculation about what cannot be known. But it can also leave us paralyzed, unable to act in one way or the other due to a lack of definite knowledge.

Without action, we allow suffering to continue and we risk stagnation. It is through action that we create the possibility of a more joyful life. While we might not know exactly what we should do, knowledge and reason are not the only tools we have available. We also have our intuitions.

Intuitions are not knowledge because they are not justified by reasons. Even so, they are valuable, as they arise from our cumulative experience of life. Everything we observe and do changes us, even in ways we do not perceive. Every experience can add something to our awareness of ourselves and the world around us. From the soup of experience that is awareness, intuitions are born.

To intentionally disregard our intuitions would be to intentionally hinder ourselves. It would be to abandon a tool we could instead pick up and use. For while our intuitions will not always be correct, they are worthy of our attention and consideration. They do not live in the rational world of language and logic that the mind has constructed, but they are still very much connected to reality and our experience of it.

By following our intuitions in situations where reason cannot help us, we allow ourselves a chance at joy even in the presence of great uncertainty.