Julia's dream was to move out of her cramped apartment and buy her own home. Since she didn't have enough money for a down payment, she was busily doing everything she could to earn more income. When someone heard about Julia wanting a home to live in, they offered to give her their home for a year rent-free while they went overseas. Julia turned down invitation. She didn't recognize her good fortune because opportunity didn't appear in form she expected. She was fixated on idea that to get living situation she wanted, she had to own house. She was hypnotized by her belief that "I don't have enough money to buy my own house." Her blind spot prevented her from seeing another solution to her problem. It didn't register to her that her need had been fulfilled. She rejected an offer that would have allowed her to move out of her tiny apartment. If she'd accepted gift, Julia would have enjoyed living in a spacious home right away. And she would have saved enough money during that year to reach her ultimate goal-to make a down payment on her own home.

"The Way Life Is?"

When we're young, we learn a lot about "the way life is" by observing adults in our lives. And, these adults can, for most part, only pass along their limited views of life.

For example, did you grow up being instilled with viewpoint that " people work at jobs they don't like to pay bills?" If you were exposed solely to this narrow perspective about work, you might not recognize available option that "people work at jobs they love that also pay bills." When you were young, perhaps you noticed that "many adults compromise and sacrifice in order to make a relationship work." Spell-bound by watching this model of how partnerships function, you might not be able to see another viable alternative in which "adults find ways for relationships to be easy, fun and mutual." If all you saw as a child was that "people become more stubborn and opinionated as they grow older," then you wouldn't have it in your realm of possibilities that "people become more flexible and allowing as they grow older."

When our role models demonstrate that it's "normal" to have jobs without passion or relationships without mutuality, we don't see other options when we become adults. When our elders aren't open and adaptable, we find ourselves accepting rigidity and narrow-mindedness as normal.

Unfortunately, cats keep bumping into horizontal stripes for rest of their lives. Likewise, many of us keep bumping into our personal "invisible" limits for rest of our lives. But we don't have to.

Intuition Saves Day

There's a way out of this conundrum! There's a way around fact that our mind is programmed with limitations. We've got intuition! Using intuition, it doesn't matter that our brain doesn't see or hear new life opportunities. Only mind is restricted by narrow options of childhood. Only mind is hypnotized. Our intuition doesn't have these limitations.

Using intuition, we have a natural ability to see into our blind spots. Although brain doesn't develop neurons to recognize " horizontal stripes," intuition can detect them. Although mind is hypnotized not to discern red books, intuition can discern them. Not being brainwashed with limitations, intuition can see options mind doesn't see. Intuition can lead us to options that didn't exist in our childhood environment.

If we truly desire to discover fresh options, our intuition will guide us all way. There are lots of other fulfilling alternatives out there. We just don't see them. The more we stop looking with our minds and start looking with our intuition, more opportunities we' ll see for happiness and prosperity. Our intuition will help us find harmonious and loving future we dreamed of when we couldn't wait to grow up!

For information on kitten and baby studies, see http://crl.ucsd. edu/~elman/Papers/cogsci98.pdf.

Let's review steps this client took.

* She noted her boredom, and took time to examine what was underneath surface. In my experience, boredom is most often a sign of a deeper desire or impulse that wants to be acted on or expressed.

* Not only did she identify what she wanted (to focus on her book and income to support that focus), she took action by rescheduling her clients and turning her focus toward book. She stopped short of telling herself that she couldn't have what she wanted.

* When an unexpected opportunity presented itself (the request to submit an article to an e-newsletter), she polished an existing article and submitted it. Again, she took action that was in alignment with her desires.

* Although she had no idea what opportunities might be, she waited for them to come to her. When an opportunity did present itself, she used her intuition to determine whether it was right one for her. She also checked in with her energy level. If her energy had plummeted at thought of submitting her article, that would have been a signal that opportunity wasn't right for her.

Alignment requires trust, being aware of self-sabotage, and giving yourself permission to have what you want. When unexpected opportunities present themselves, use your intuition or "gut" feeling to determine whether they're in line with your vision or goal.

Allow your entrepreneurship to be easier. Get clear about what you want, and move your business into alignment with it. You'll be working less and reaping more. Who doesn't want that?

------------------------------------------------------------------ Claudette Rowley, coach and author, helps professionals identify and pursue their true purpose and calling in life. Contact her today for a complimentary consultation at 781-676-5633 or claudette@metavoice.org. Sign up for her free newsletter "Insights for Savvy" at http://www.metavoice.org.

Claudette Rowley, coach and author, helps professionals identify and pursue their true purpose and calling in life. Contact her today for a complimentary consultation at 781-676-5633 or claudette@metavoice.org. Sign up for her free newsletter "Insights for the Savvy" at http://www.metavoice.org.