Instinct is a Gift

How a person or an animal responds to every situation is called reaction. Instinct has to do with our reactions.

Wiktionary defines 'instinct'  as a 'natural or inherent impulse or behavior' or 'an intuitive reaction not based on rational conscious thought'. It is 'infused, urged or stimulated from within'. It is a gift.

We always hear the phrase 'mother's instinct' or 'woman's instinct'. This is true. In many ways, I felt it.

At an unholy hour of the night a few years ago, I woke up to pee. I did not normally go to the main door of the flat as insiders were instructed to double-lock it. A little voice told me to go and check it and found out that it was wide open. There was no intruder but it was an instinct that pushed me to do the preventive measure.

I handled countless screening procedures for selecting the right applicants for clients. There were many cases when despite all very good qualifications enumerated in the curriculum vitae or resume, I felt I did not like to recommend an applicant to a hiring company, and I would choose one of lesser qualifications, after an actual interview. There was this instinct that guided me to do so.

When I met some people, sometimes I had this feeling that they could be 'somebody else', particularly if I saw the eyes. I strongly disliked them. Inside of me shouted a loud voice for detachment to avoid danger. And yes, the instinct proved to be true, and cannot be ignored.

There are many sheep in wolves' clothing who hide themselves in deception and lies, attractive appearances, and others that will charm then harm the target prey. The only thing one can do to handle this is to pray for discerning power, seek wisdom, and utilize instinct or what the blood whispers.

Have you encountered a person who gave a temporary happy feeling, but the final result of dealing with him/her was the worst that money could not buy/compensate nor heal and could be traumatic? What did your blood say?

Hermann Hesse said,

I have been and still am a seeker, but I have ceased to question stars and books; I have begun to listen to the teaching my blood whispers to me.

How a canine sniffs illegal drugs is not just a result of training, but of basic instinct, for a man can be trained but fails to do what a canine can just by smelling.

If for Hermann Hesse it is what the blood whispers, for David Gemmel ("Fall of Kings") it is what heart tells you.

Trust your instincts, and make judgements on what your heart tells you. The heart will not betray you.

Which is which -- blood or heart? People who fall in love listen to their blood and heart, and many fail that result in broken relationships. Is it because they do not have the instinct to choose the right fit?

How do we discover our instinct, a gift from above, so we can use it positively to influence others and help make our world a better place to live in?

According to MTNUniversal.com, to discover our instinct, we must know our unique sets of talents and follow them.

"Instincts serve different purposes and show up at different points in development depending on the purpose each serves and the species within which it exists." This is lifted from Study.com.

So knowing who you are, what your talents are, what your purpose as a human being is -- all these have to do with instinct. It develops and it goes out of its way to help you choose wisely in life, parallel to that purpose, at the right place and time.

"All the species in the animal kingdom," per Study.com, "have the instinctual behavior." 

It is a set of behavioral reactions to stimuli or environmental triggers, unlearned, from within, not based on reason, and all tied to a purpose or motivation.

Crime investigators and law implementors must have a great instinct to solve certain cases because there are many factors to be considered not seen by eyes, despite witnesses and supporting documents. Any wrong move may result in a wrong judgment and stopping the lives of innocent ones, which may later result in damages to certain government offices when the victims find a way to prove their innocence and reverse the court decision. The movie "Conviction" (a true-to-life story) shows how a mother/woman's instinct, powered by a great love for his brother, saves an innocent man.

Queen Latifah said,

Instinct leads me to another flow.

That flow can lead to something that really matters.

That woman's instinct, even in animals, is tied to the preservation of life and home.

Emily Thorne wrote, "Nature can be cruel. Predators are everywhere. Those who don't need to be protected from outside forces often need to be protected from themselves. In society, women are referred to as 'the fairer sex'. But in the wild, the female species can be far more ferocious than their male counterparts. Defending the nest is both our oldest and strongest instinct. And sometimes, it can also be the most gratifying.”

True, predators are everywhere and they can be cruel. We need to passionately move our instincts to the next level.

---

Photo credits:  Pixabay