The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
~ Albert Einstein

I've often marveled at wild animal trainers and the courage they display on stage or in the arena. Surrounded by 3000 pounds of raw flesh eating power, trainers and performers display a calmness and cool that I could only imagine. I've seen 10 tigers bow to a 180 pound man in a cage. I've witnessed a bear roll over at the simple wave of a hand by a 140 pound women. On television, we can watch in awe as a man sticks his head in the open jaws of a full grown crocodile. Our rational mind tells us that with training, patience, and perseverance, we can overcome any fear and accomplish anything. Our intuition fails us sometimes as we forget we are talking about WILD ANIMALS! It takes the occasional reminder on the Animal Planet series, When Animals Attack, to keep things in perspective. I suppose Mr. Einstein could have been talking about leadership when he put this quote together. In hindsight, I bet we could all explain a bad decision we've made that was more heavily weighted on our rational mind than our intuition, affectionately referred to as our 'gut feeling'.
My challenge to you this week is to invoke your intuitive mind in a major decision you must make this week. Perhaps this decision will take place in the voting booth or maybe even the doctors office. The dictionary defines 'intuition' as a sense of something not evident or deducible; an impression. The dictionary defines 'rational' as having or exercising the ability to reason (in other words, using logic, analytic thought; intelligence). My rational mind would tell me that it is indeed possible to train a crocodile to allow me to put my head in his mouth without him snapping it off. We have data to prove this is possible and I've even witnessed it. Besides, more people die from being struck by lightening than being eaten by crocodiles. Of course my intuitive mind is the reason I've never done it. While I'm not advocating to reduce the amount of logic and data you use to make decisions, I am supporting Mr. Einstein's recommendation that we stop ignoring our gift of intuition. This gift could prove the difference between success and failure.

Alonzo Kelly