Is life purely logical?

I recently had an interesting conversation with a young, smart and successful gentleman who conducts his life in a highly structured manner. When our paths crossed he was in a great shape both physically and mentally; living a healthy lifestyle completely in line with the latest research – taking care of his nutrition, exercise, body weight, sleep… He was also working on his business and by all means available to him managed to accomplish a lot despite his young age.

“How come,” he was wondering, “I am having pain in my body even when I am doing everything right? I am following all the recommendations and tracking how I do. It is rare that I ignore any of those rules.”

“Did you ever consider to just relax, give yourself a break, stop tracking and let life flow for a moment?” I proposed.

“Impossible, I don’t relax. I like to be efficient. Everything is rational and therefore can be planned. After all, life is entirely logical!” he pointed to me.

That got me thinking… is it really? “How do you interpret forces such as love then?” I dared to challenge him. My question remained without an answer and ever since our conversation took place the theme keeps coming back to my mind. What is your view?

Is life purely logical and predictable?

If the answer is positive then how do we explain dreams, synchronicity or intuition for example? A sudden urge based a profound knowing which cannot be easily explained nor traced to anything logical, although it seems to be saving people’s lives, providing answers to difficult questions and leads to discovering new solutions to our toughest problems. Intuition can be powerful and it is definitely a capability one may cultivate.

How can we develop intuition?

My experience is, it thrives on awareness and being in touch with one’s feelings. It sparks when there is sense of humor, playfulness, joy and laughter. When we don’t take ourselves too seriously, inviting the soul to be our compass, we develop a much deeper connection with the world we are part of. Expressing creativity for instance by drawing, writing, singing or playing an instrument is the best food for our intuition. Last but not least, it is in our dreams that we may get its first subtle glimpses; and once practiced, intuition becomes easier and comes more naturally.

Prayer is telephoning to God and intuition is God telephoning to you.

Florence Scovel Shinn

As helpful as logic and rationality might be, there is space where they serve the best. However, all situations cannot be well planned for and there are times when it’s simply not enough to be solely rational. The truth is any crucial force in our life – including love and intuition – is invisible: consider time, gravity, tide, humor… When we resist the “intangible”, we resist to be whole and live at our best!

Engaging our ability to think with the power of these forces might as well be the secret recipe for health and success. After all, it has been the actions inspired by love and intuition that have in fact influenced us the greatest throughout the history of mankind.