By Nancy Stoops

            Your instincts can guide you well if you can just learn to trust yourself. Remember when you were younger and taking a test and you were told to go with the answer you first thought was correct.  This is truly the concept of trusting your instincts or your gut.  Nobody knows you better than you know yourself so it makes sense to learn to trust yourself to know what is best for you.  Think about how many times you have proven that you can trust your instincts.  Look at the evidence in your life about how many times you have been right about something. So then why is it you still doubt yourself and feel you can’t make good life decisions? It’s probably some lie about yourself left over from your childhood. You can learn to combat that lie by looking at the truth about what an amazing person you are today. 

            Take a moment right now and think about how far you have come.  Take some time to look at all of the evidence in your life that shows you that you are worthy of self- trust.  Take some time to think about how proud you are of where you’re at and that your mindset has really changed for the better.  Now that you are learning to value yourself you are making healthier and more functional decisions about your life.  Learn to journal as you continue to move forward in your personal growth and document each step as evidence that you can trust yourself and believe in yourself.  It’s really important that you start to recognize your progress and give credit to yourself to build the confidence you need to trust your instincts and in turn trust yourself. I believe in all of you and celebrate all of your personal growth and I’m here to tell you that you can trust yourself!

This article was written by Nancy Stoops M.A., M.F.T.  Nancy is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.  Nancy is now accepting new clients.  She also works as a motivational speaker.  Nancy runs free family support groups, a group on loss for seniors, and groups for teens and can handle many courts mandated needs.  For more information about any of these services feel free to contact her at (909) 229-0727.  You may e-mail Nancy at nancyjstoops@verizon.net. You may purchase Nancy’s book’s Live Heal and Grow and Midnight the Therapy Dog at Amazon.com.