by Gundula Welti
29 May 2020
Nathalie shared her hamster story during a Facebook live stream: sitting at her desk, concentrating hard, she is thinking of names for the various sections of a training course, but nothing inspires her. She perseveres. Her mental hamster wheel is overheating with exhortations: “I’ve got to find something! Come on! This is ridiculous! It should be so easy!”
Her wheel continues to squeak round even when she’s on the phone, leading to scribbles on scraps of paper and a certain loss of active listening.
She goes to bed, more than a little frustrated. The next day, sitting comfortably at her desk, she opens the file and BOOM! The section headings spring to mind.
We all know when our hamster wheel is turning, we can’t hear what our intuition is trying to tell us. Some people go off and do some sport, others meditate, do some cooking or have a nap. All these activities serve the same purpose: they calm down the hamster and make room for your intuition. Or to use Nathalie’s words: to download the answer to your question!
What about you? How do you deal with your hamster?
by Gundula Welti
05 Apr 2020
I was dashing through the airport with my phone to my ear. A passenger pulling his wheeled suitcase called out to me “Do you speak English?”
I stopped, always ready to be of assistance. He asked me if I could help him out with 20 euros. He had run out of money at the airport and didn’t have anyone he could ask for help. Lots of things ran through my mind, I was in a hurry, I wondered why he’d picked me, I didn’t totally trust him and in the end I told him I didn’t have any cash on me. By way of reply he flung at me, “Why don’t you just say you won’t help me instead of bothering to dream up an excuse?”
I went off feeling a bit ashamed at my lack of charity. I told myself – later, obviously – that I could have asked him for his story, given him something towards his 20 euros and in return got a nice warm feel-good glow.
Two weeks later I once again heard a voice calling out “Do you speak English?” It was the same man, with the same little wheeled suitcase. I smiled at him and replied, “You ran out of money last week as well!” Surprised, he turned and fled. And I got my warm glow after all!
I had not believed the man’s story the first time I met him.
What about you? Do you trust your intuition?
