Ego Vs. Intuition

Welcome to Shift Today with Allison.

That's me.

Thanks for showing up.

I'm Allison Schuhasi and as an intuitive coach and Reiki master,

I continue to collect a bundle of pivotal moments and funny stories that have helped me keep it real along my journey.

And I hope that this podcast will ignite a spark of confidence within you to connect with your intuition and whispers of wisdom to share along the way.

So get ready because it's time to shift today with me,

Allison.

Hello,

Hello and welcome back.

Today we're going to jump in and we're going to talk about ego versus intuition.

Well,

I bring this up not only because I mentioned it in my trailer in my previous episode,

But because I do spend quite a bit of time talking about this with my clients and there is a very distinct difference when our ego is getting in the way of our intuition,

Which is our inner knowing.

And you'll hear me repeat that quite a bit.

So I thought we'd talk about this a bit today and I would share a few of my linking pivotal moments that I've had throughout my years where in one of the stories is very distinctive where my ego is leading over my intuition,

But how my intuition kicks me in the butt and wakes me up to listen.

So anyway,

One thing I do want to be clear about is the consistency of when we follow and we pause for listening to our intuition life.

If we do,

If we pause and we take those moments can be so much more transparent.

We can have so much more fun.

It can be effortless and just overall filled with more joy and love.

So just keep that in mind because on the other side,

When our egos get the best of us,

For me as an example,

And I can only use myself really,

When my ego is getting the best of me,

I'm often left with regrets,

Sadness,

Looping negative thoughts.

How many of you have those?

The same thought over and over and over and over contentment for others,

Which sometimes can possibly lead to sickness.

And you know,

After this journey and I've been through quite the journey,

You know,

I can see how some of my sickness has been tied back to my thoughts,

My ego,

Things that have happened,

Not necessarily,

You know,

A medical issue.

So anyway,

I'm very proud of myself to say that in recent years,

I because I have been pausing and listening to my inner knowing that things have just opened up.

So here's a few questions I have for you because these things happen to me.

And so here are maybe some examples.

A lot of people who I do talk to are very confused about what is the intuition?

Like,

How can I hear it?

Like what is it?

When is it talking to me?

How is it talking to me?

So here's a few questions I wrote down that I'm going to ask and see if you know,

Or if you connect with any of these questions or statements.

So first one is,

Have you ever had a sudden thought that contains an answer to a question that you were wondering about?

So maybe you're wondering about something and all of a sudden you're like,

Oh my god,

That's the answer.

That's exactly what I need to do.

And you go do it and you're like,

Boom,

It's fantastic.

How about this?

Have you ever met somebody and you feel like you've known them forever?

Like there's an instant connection with somebody.

How about and I know he's used this sometimes.

Have you ever used the phrase,

I just knew it,

Or has anyone ever said to you,

You'll just know it when you know it.

I mean,

Gosh,

Before I met my husband,

I remember having lunch with a good friend in Colorado named Chris Cord.

And she was,

We were just talking about just relationships and she's like,

You know,

It's hard to say and this sounds kind of crazy,

But you will just know it when you know it.

When you meet the person you're meant to be with,

You will just know it when you know it.

And I thought that is a load of crap.

Totally true.

I met my husband and I knew it right away.

So there you go.

How about this question?

Have you ever lost something and you find yourself talking to yourself?

Although I do this all the time.

I talk to myself constantly.

And while you're talking to yourself,

Let's see,

I think I wrote this down wrong.

So you've lost something and you're talking to yourself while you're looking for it and you can't find it.

Like I know I left my keys here.

I know I did.

And if you keep talking to yourself and you're walking around,

You're looking and all of a sudden,

Boom,

Like boom,

You suddenly know where it is.

Like it,

Boom,

It just shoots into your mind.

Oh,

Your keys have fallen behind the chair and the den and they're under the shoes.

And you're like,

What?

And you go there and boom,

There they are.

How about that?

That happens to me all the time.

Now let me share some,

Well,

It's multiple stories in one where I haven't listened to my intuition and I've led with my ego,

Which then actually pushed me down the road to listen loud and clear to my intuition.

So here we go.

If you can sit back for a moment and listen to this story,

I think you might be able to connect to some of it.

So a few years ago I worked at a place when I lived in South Carolina and their motto was because that's how we've always done it.

Okay.

Well,

At first I thought this was very charming and very nostalgic and how wonderful until I actually settled into the job.

And then reality really set in and it was very,

Very far from charming or nostalgic.

It was an environment where things were really managed with fear,

Led by fear and disrespect,

Especially for women.

It was very much a man's world.

Now keep in mind,

This was 10 plus years ago.

So 10 years ago,

It was very different.

I was in a whole different stage of my life.

And I do realize this and I will state this upfront.

I made a choice to stay in this environment,

But the environment included things such as verbal abuse,

Sexism.

We were constantly being spoken down to because it's how it's always been done,

But especially women.

And I will never forget,

I was talking when I first started at this company,

I had one of the managers I was going through and just kind of meeting it because I was in a decent position,

A upper level position.

And I sat down and I was meeting all the managers to find out who I was going to be working with and what their needs were and blah,

Blah,

Blah.

And this man asked me and he's like,

What are you doing here?

You're from Yankee country.

I'm like,

What?

I'm from where?

Is that really,

Did you really just say that to me?

Yep.

I was called a Yankee and he wasn't the only one to call me a Yankee.

So that was interesting.

I was very proud of being a Yankee.

I'll tell him.

Anyway,

At this job,

I had to deal with alcoholics who slept on the job and it was considered humorous.

I had to deal with drug addicts who,

One of them would pound on my office door.

And I know they did that because I was hiding my employees in my office.

And when I would go to HR,

Oh,

They totally turned a blind eye.

And I again,

No one was forcing me to stay there.

But I was also in this mind frame of there weren't many career opportunities where I lived.

And I had just quit a job and taken this job over and the job I had before the company had before was even worse.

So I'm like,

Oh my God,

Really?

Can I endure this?

I'm going to have to.

I don't really have.

I don't have a choice.

I have to stay at this job.

I have to stay with all this because that's what my ego was telling me.

I know that now.

I didn't realize that then.

But here is what my ego was telling me during this time.

I didn't want to leave because I didn't want to disappoint my husband and my family by leaving the job.

I didn't want to give up my paycheck because I was paid very well for staying in such a disrespectful location.

And I didn't want to leave my team.

I really enjoyed the people I worked directly with.

They were fantastic.

They were the ones who called me mom and bear.

If you remember that from my previous episode about titles.

So I really loved the direct people I worked with.

It was a really fantastic team.

But all of this was led by my ego.

And I was choosing disappointment.

I was choosing money.

I was choosing fear over happiness and respect and contentment.

That's what I was craving but I was leading with all the negative things until something happened.

It was a very pivotal moment which I'm going to share.

So I hope you stay with me because this story is going to seem like it's going to twist and turn.

Back then,

I guess it's 10 plus years ago,

I did have a few miscarriages in my life.

And I had an unexpected pregnancy with my now husband.

And it turned into a pretty tough miscarriage.

But it also made me realize,

Wow,

You know,

I guess I do really want kids.

I always wanted children but didn't really ever think I could have them.

And here was another tough moment where I couldn't have them.

So my body had been through a lot of challenges over my lifetime.

I've had a lot of medical stuff.

But I was told by my doctor that,

You know,

If you really want to have a baby,

You're going to have to go through the science.

You're going to have to get science involved.

You're going to have to do IVF or something else.

So I remember we went to a little seminar,

A little,

I don't even remember what it was,

But where they talk about all the different ways that you can have a baby.

And I don't think we made it 10 minutes into the seminar.

And I just I couldn't even be in the room.

I couldn't be,

It just did not feel right.

Something about it did not feel right for me.

I have no problem with how everyone else makes their choices.

These are just my choices.

And it was just something that was not comfortable for me.

I have plenty of girlfriends and friends who have had babies several different ways.

And they're amazing,

Wonderful kids,

Fantastic families.

And I think it's wonderful.

It just was not for me.

It was not how I felt.

And I've always felt that if God really wanted me to have a baby,

He would have blessed me with one.

And it just was not meant to be.

And quite honestly,

I thought,

You know what,

That's okay,

Because I have been blessed with this wonderful man who I absolutely adore,

Who has a fantastic son who I get to watch grow up from the sidelines.

So there we are.

I mean,

Why do I have to keep wanting more?

You know,

I already have everything.

So anyway,

Life continues on.

And back in October of 2009,

And I can have a little bit more specifics because this is where the pivotal moment comes in.

I was in Chicago for my 20th high school reunion,

Wheaton North High School,

Go Falcons.

And I was visiting with one of my college friends,

Deb.

We had headed out to lunch.

We went to Olive Garden,

Which was one of our favorite places.

And we were headed out to Kohl's to do a little shopping.

If you've ever been in the Chicago area,

The parking lots by the shopping areas are ginormous.

They're huge.

There are hundreds and hundreds of spots.

Anyway,

We're driving.

It was a dreary,

Cold,

Cold day,

Nasty.

And I was driving and we're going through the parking lot at Kohl's and I hear Deb like,

Oh my God,

She's screaming.

And I look at her and I look the other way real quickly because she's looking out my window and there's a car screaming through the parking lot.

And it's about to T-bone us.

And I just smashed the gas so we could get out of the way.

So boom,

We're out of the way.

No problems.

Everything's fine.

Split second.

You know,

All this happened very,

Very quickly.

Well,

At the moment that I hit the gas,

At the moment that I pushed that gas to get out of the way,

Instantly in my mind,

I heard you're pregnant.

What?

I mean,

Like I'm freaking out here.

We're almost,

We're pulling in the spot.

I'm like,

Okay,

Well,

We're fine.

Everything's great.

We're going to go into Kohl's and we're going to go shopping.

But I'm pregnant?

What?

I didn't say anything out loud.

This is all going on in my head.

And I'm like,

What?

Seriously?

What?

And who said this?

Who is saying this to me?

Well,

Excuse me.

I did not say anything to Deb.

When we finished our time together,

We went shopping and I dropped her off and I was leaving her neighborhood.

There is a Walgreens.

And I kept hearing you're pregnant.

You got to get a test.

You're pregnant.

So I did.

I pulled in.

I got a test and I headed back to my other girlfriend's house.

So here I was 38 years old,

Heading to my 20th reunion where of course we were going to have many cocktails that evening.

My husband is at home in South Carolina where we're pouring all of our money into a whole house renovation because we were not having children and I'm in Chicago taking a pregnancy test.

Like what?

Yep.

I took the test and yep,

It was positive.

Oh my gosh.

Wow.

The memories,

The thoughts,

The emotions,

Everything.

Well,

Here we are.

This story could go on for hours.

Here we are.

I'll just cut it short.

We're 10 years later.

We have two boys of our own.

So my husband has three fantastic boys.

We've always called our boys Surprise and Shock.

So Surprise came in June of 2010 and Shock came in June of 2011.

And yes,

They are one year and two weeks apart,

Not on purpose.

So finishing up the story,

I ended up quitting my job.

And of course I'm recording this podcast and have these little burps.

What is happening?

What?

Anyway,

I'm keeping it real here.

So I ended up quitting my job and I mentioned earlier because I realized that I'd rather be the best mom with no paycheck than spend my time in that environment,

That disrespectful environment that wanted to stand still because that's just how they always have done it.

Now the shift towards being open and listening to my intuition,

My inner knowing,

Remember how I said earlier,

My inner knowing,

You have one too,

Your inner knowing.

It has been so free and life changing for me.

We all have an inner knowing and so many of us are listening to it because I'm surrounded by people who are listening to it regularly and it's such fun stories that we share.

But some are still stuck in the box of past guidelines because we've been taught by many,

Many generations of people who were trained that you need to eat this,

You need to believe this,

You need to learn this,

You need to be this,

You need to do it this way.

And it's not all bad.

All of that is,

I'm not saying any of that is bad stuff.

But we become more aware and open if we listen to our intuition,

If we listen to our prayers,

If we listen to the answers to our prayers,

If we listen and we listen,

Listen is like a huge pivotal moment that I have just been absorbing and trying to be one with.

So I do believe our boys and all children are gifts to this world.

I mean,

Children are amazing.

And my husband and I,

We are parenting differently than most because we're allowing our kids to express their interests and express when they don't want to do something.

Not that they always get to make all the choices,

But they share their creativity.

They're unbelievably creative.

We're allowing them to participate in conversations,

Meaning we're not just telling them what they need to do or what they need to like,

But we're communicating in a very,

Very different way.

And we're not necessarily using all the old school guidelines that everyone else uses,

Which is fine.

If that's how you are,

That's great.

And if it's working for you,

Fantastic.

Just the other night I was hanging out with my kiddos and they're so fascinated by what I'm doing here with the podcast,

Which I still find it very interesting.

And I'm like,

Hey,

Do you guys want to record a podcast?

So we recorded a couple podcasts.

I let them do it.

Adorable.

So,

So cute.

So I will be sharing that in future episodes because it's,

It's actually several lessons.

I think we can all learn.

Anyway,

In closing,

Here is a thought.

Think about this.

What if we make a shift for the future generations by releasing old ways,

Old feelings,

Old thoughts,

And old patterns to allow new moments,

New hopes,

New ideas,

And so on to be relished and celebrated instead of leading with because it's how it's always been done.

Well,

I appreciate you.

And I really thank you for joining me for shift today with Alison.

That's me.

So until next time,

I hope you're able to live like you mean it and shift into a greater tomorrow.

Peace out.