The Surprising Path of Intuition

Image by: bertvthul

On an afternoon in September 2018 I was taking a walk through a wooded area in my northern Virginia community. It was a pleasant day, and I was enjoying looking at the trees that surrounded me on either side of the paved path. Essentially I was minding my own business when out of nowhere this thought appeared: “I should move to Syracuse by the end of the year.”

Where did that come from? Sure, I knew I was going to move to Syracuse eventually, but not for another two and a half years. I had a plan, a very well-developed, precise plan that had been in the making for years. Staying with my current employer until early 2021 made sense financially with cushion money to spare. It included a safety net for my safety net. That’s when it logically, practically made the most sense. So instead of welcoming this thought I began to argue. I listed all the reasons why it was wrong and didn’t make sense. This was not part of the plan, my job provided good pay, great benefits, and I had been promoted earlier that year. Nevermind I hadn’t been happy with my job in some years; it was a safe, comfortable rut. I could do my job blindfolded, which was especially helpful on days where I felt tired or under the weather, and those seemed to happen with more frequency. It had taken me nearly two decades to build my career to where it presently was. I also had many good friends within and outside my workplace and a group of us who met regularly for happy hours, to go walking, or watch a movie.

I’m a very safe, cautious, practical person. I plan things to the extreme and overthink everything, except for maybe chocolate. I’m definitely not the impulsive type who makes snap decisions. Everything needs to be thoroughly researched and sometimes discussed with subject matter experts so I can understand all possible angles before taking a calculated risk. Many years ago I even had a counselor tell me that it seemed to take me about a year before I made any major decision. I asked her, in all seriousness, if there was a way of speeding up the process, which caused her to laugh and say it was just the way I was wired.

I knew there was something different about this thought, but I wasn’t sure if it was an actual intuitive message or just wishful thinking to help me escape the parts of my life where I was unhappy. I realize how ironic this is coming from someone who is naturally intuitive, but sometimes it’s not always clear, and I sure as heck wasn’t going to upend my very stable life based on a random thought without some assurance. I searched the internet and watched YouTube videos about how to recognize intuition. I even mentioned the incident to my friend Hina, who agreed it might be an intuitive message but it was hard to say for sure. This stayed on my mind for a week or so and then fell to the background as I lived my day to day life.

About a month later I was visiting family in Syracuse, and as I was hanging out with my mom while she watched television there was a commercial for a local company that was hiring for several positions. Out of curiosity I went to the website they refencered and found they were having a job fair the very next day not far from my mom’s house. Previously I had searched for jobs in Syracuse, but the response I repeatedly received was that they didn’t want to consider out-of-town applicants, so I had given up trying. But I decided it wouldn’t hurt to check this out; the worst they could say was no.

The job fair became much more involved than I and other applicants had expected. We had to take a lengthy online test; we had to fill out a rather long application; we did a mini one-on-one pre-interview; we were given a tour of the building; and then we sat in a conference room for quite some time waiting for the full-blown interview. The whole process took nearly four hours, and I wasn’t entirely convinced I even wanted the job, but the benefits were impressive, and good benefits were the linchpin that kept me tied to my current job.

I wasn’t given a job offer on the spot, but after a few weeks of phone calls, more online paperwork, taking a drug test and waiting for the background check, I was officially offered a job. And I was excited and terrified. Did I really want to give up everything I currently had? Would I even like the job? Was this really the right time to move? As I reviewed how everything had played out during the past several weeks, I knew that if I didn’t give it a chance I would always wonder, "What if...?" and possibly regret not taking the opportunity. That seemingly random thought of, “I should move to Syracuse by the end of the year,” truly appeared to be validated.

As I told friends and coworkers I was leaving and explained how everything had transpired, many of them said it seemed like it was meant to be, and it really did. It was hard to imagine that when I was actively looking for jobs in Syracuse I kept running into dead ends, but now that I had resigned to see out my 2021 plan an opportunity fell into my lap. I did, of course, have to take action - I chose to follow up on the leads presented to me and go through the time-intensive hiring process. These required effort, but the path before me couldn’t have been more neatly laid out. I was still very nervous about making such major changes to my life in such a short amount of time, but all the congruences, along with what I am now certain was an intuitive message as I walked through the woods on that September day, helped me have faith that this was the right choice to make, no matter how freaked out I felt at times.

Even though I ultimately, at the eleventh hour, didn’t take that job, it is what led me to move to Syracuse. Since moving I have had some challenges, such as dealing with new health insurance coupled with some unexpected minor health issues, but those all eventually worked themselves out, just not as quickly as I would have preferred. It also took me awhile to disassociate the true me from my work persona, which was something I hadn’t anticipated and was rather uncomfortable. But overwhelmingly I’ve encountered so many wonderful experiences and synchronicities that no amount of planning could have predicted or created.

I’ve found two spiritual groups which align incredibly well with me and have brought me new friends; I volunteer at a local library with great people; I worked an interesting temp job at a funky and progressive company; I’m able to spend time with family every day and celebrate special occasions I would have otherwise missed; and I have a newfound friend in my mom’s cat. There are many more, smaller forms of serendipity that have occurred since I moved; these are just the highlights.

And guess what? I’ve had enough money without worry. I’ve had time to improve my diet and cook for myself at home. Time to pursue hobbies as well as relax and catch up with my favorite books and TV shows. Time to write. Time to spend with family and new friends. Time to be me, without expectations. This is true freedom.

And it all began - maybe not so surprisingly - with intuition.