The Mind & The Little Voice...

That which speaks to you, bubbling up from deep within, offering foresight and alternatives to what you perceive to be right. My g/f and I were discussing the other day the little thing which has been coined a 'woman's intuition' and how often we dismiss what the eyes cannot see, but the mind certainly ascertains. Do we really tap into the power of the subconscious mind, which seems to sense people and situations, sight unseen? Have you ever had a feeling come over you about a person, place, or situation which you pass off as... well, nothing really and proceed, only to look back and say, "man! I had a feeling about that! I should have .... (fill in the blank)" I know I can recall a few instances. It's one of those, 'd'oh!' moments! LOL There is something that we wrestle with it seems, where we have this indescribable need to have concrete data before making decisions. Yet, what part of life is ever really concrete, you know? I think too often we dismiss the, "I can't quite put my finger on it, but...." and we go forward to save face, and/or hold onto our pride/stubbornness, etc. Only later, we typically see what our inner voice was trying to tell us and sometimes with ill consequences.

The mind is an intriguing thing. There are myths which say we only use 10% of it, which is untrue, as we have over 90 billion neurons that are in use at one time or another during our daily processes of life. But even with this knowledge, scientists are still baffled by many realms of the human mind. Therefore, there is no telling what it's truly capable of , if it was 'utilized' properly. I say it in this manner, because you must look at the developmental years when gauging the brain's potential. When babies are born, up until the time they reach the age of about 3 years old, they are building what are called synapses. This chain of the nervous system is where your child either 'uses it or loses it' and sets the foundation for the rest of their life. That is why it is so important for parents to work with their children during this period of synaptic development. It is where a child can blossom, or to be quite frank, lose their ability to become a boy/girl wonder. Granted, there is some synapses growth during later years, but not to the extent which is seen in this time period.

Synapses are important because they are the pathways which the brain uses to associate learned responses and to store these to memory. For an example, to illustrate their significance, if visual information was to be completely eliminated, the brain would whittle away this network of nerves (the synapses) and the child would be blind. A child's brain must receive stimulus of all types- auditory, visual, tactile, etc for normal developmental growth to occur and the brain to reach its maximum potential. Now, don't get me wrong, this is not to say genetics don't come into play, they do. Depending on each parent's intelligence level, the child is certainly at an advantage, but studies show that this particular time period is crucial. There are amazing studies where parents began with babies in the womb, exposing them to various musical pieces (typically that of classical, since it is more complex) and continued their educational development through the age of 3. The children within these studies were actually playing, not tinkering, but playing musical instruments at the age of 4, with the proficiency of someone who had been playing for years!

So considering this information about the development of the brain and the potential in case studies, maybe what we call our inner voice is more than just a catch phrase and the concept of intuition actually holds more weight than we give credit. Fact of the matter is, the mind is still very much a mystery to scientists and psychologists alike and the possibility our mind is able to 'feel' or perceive what our other senses do not, is a very real and viable theory. So the next time a 'feeling' washes over, perhaps taking a moment and giving pause to something at work bigger than ourselves might work to our benefit... saving a life, preventing trouble, or who knows... maybe even avoiding that traffic ticket?? lol I joke.. I joke... (kind of). *wink*