The Hardest Part Isn't Hearing Guidance. It's Trusting It.
Learning how to trust intuition isn't always about receiving clearer guidance. Sometimes it's about acting on the guidance you've already received. This is the story of a jar of toothpicks, a loaf of banana bread, and the podcast I spent a couple avoiding.
The other day I was in the kitchen getting excited and slightly drooling while waiting for banana bread to come out of the oven. I had to do the trusty toothpick test to know it was done so I went to reach for the little jar of them in the cupboard. After grabbing one I set the jar on the counter without the lid and heard very clearly "put the lid on" and saw a visual in my mind's eye of them falling off the counter and dumping on the ground to roll and spread everywhere. I audibly went "ugh!" and gave a ridiculously sassy eye roll because I just didn't want to reattach the lid to the jar.
Lazy and eager for banana bread I guess, don't keep me longer from the food!
I took a breath and with another eyeroll I put the lid on the jar and placed it back on the counter. Holding my one toothpick, I turned to grab the oven door and BUMPED THE JAR OF TOOTHPICKS TO THE GROUND.
I can't make this shit up.
I exploaded in laughter. I couldn't believe it, but I also so could believe it, ya know?
I could literally feel Spirit roll their eyes back and say, "I told you bitch" in a love you but you're an idiot kind of way.
But I was so grateful that I didn't have to clean up a bunch of toothpicks from the ground. It's like watching people with long nails try and get their credit card off the hardwood floor. Torture.
Anyway, the banana bread turned out gorge, the toothpicks remained in their jar.
As I stood there laughing in my kitchen, I realized there was another piece of guidance I'd been handling very differently.
I sat on this guidance for a couple months.
Ugh, gosh, I knooowwwww.
I felt my guides push, saw the payoff, saw the alignment, all the rainbows and sunshine and butterflies farting glitter about it, but I ignored them because I was scared.
They didn't yell at me or make life difficult because I was dragging my feet. They just reshared the same quiet thought over and over.
-Make the podcast official.
-Launch the podcast.
-Get on a podcast platform.
I'd hear them and I'd get spooked. I let myself lollygag.
Their ask felt ginormous but I'd also think, Lex, you are literally already doing it. Just make it more real. Put it on Spotify.
I would let excuses block me.
My thoughts said:
I can't find the right name, what if it's taken.
I am not sure if I should just add what I have or start it off with a new welcome episode.
What if my episodes aren't really in order of when I recorded them?
How do I describe my podcast in the description?
Blah blah blah, I let it all scare me.
The funny thing about guidance is that I think most of us assume the challenge is hearing it.
We ask for signs, for clarity, confirmation. But what if hearing the guidance isn't the hard part?
What if the hardest part is getting out of our own way and acting on what we've already been shown?
Maybe you call it intuition, or guidance. Maybe you just call it a thought you can't seem to shake.
Whatever name you give it, there are certain ideas that keep returning because they're asking something of us.
Because honestly you guys, I knew what I had to do. I had heard them loud and clear.
I didn't know how to guarantee success or how exactly it would unfold.
But that's not what they told me to act on.
They said, make the podcast more available.
They didn't say I had to have all of the answers or even the bravery to act on it.
I could do it scared.
I could do it without knowing what would happen after.
I knew I could trust them because I'd never been steered wrong before.
But I wanted more certainty before I moved. I wanted to know exactly what the podcast would become. I wanted to know the perfect structure. The perfect plan. The perfect everything.
That would reduce failure, right?
But the more times I sat with my avoidance to do the thing, the more I realized that certainty wasn't actually what I was waiting for.
I was waiting to feel comfortable with the result.
But sometimes comfort never arrives before the action.
Sometimes the action has to come first.
So this week I finally did it. Today actually.
I launched the podcast!
I was anxious yes. I could feel my brain trying to find other things to do so I could avoid what was right in front of me.
But I finally just did it. Let whatever else follow!
My friends... what followed was relief! From no longer carrying around the conversation with myself about whether I should do it. No more avoidance, pushing it out one more day, or negotiating. No feeling guilty that I was ignoring the guidance that had already made itself clear.
The podcast itself almost feels secondary.
The real gift was remembering the lesson from the toothpicks. There was a reason I was shared that guidance.
It needed a response, not more ruminating.
Even when it stretches you. Even when it makes you nervous. Even when you don't know where it's leading.
Sometimes guidance isn't a demand.
It's an invitation.
And then a choice.
Maybe there's a conversation, a project, a decision, or a dream that's been returning in your mind over and over again.
It doesn't matter whether you call it intuition, guidance, or a thought you can't shake.
If it keeps returning, maybe it's asking something of you.
Don't worry about how long you've sat on it. Just ask yourself...
Do you trust it?
The Podcast Is Finally Live
The funny thing is that after all of that overthinking, the thing I spent months avoiding is finally out in the world.
ROOTED IN THE FLAMES is now available on Spotify.
If you're interested in intuition, spiritual guidance, and personal growth, you'll probably enjoy the conversations I'm sharing.
You can listen, follow along, and join me for future episodes here:
And if you do listen, I'd love to hear what resonates with you.