Everybody has had those moments when their gut, instead of their head, made a decision for them. Maybe you met someone and decided instantly you didn’t like them, or you used your intuition to choose a university to attend.

Well, this article from Science Blog sheds a little light on the matter of gut feelings. Apparently researchers at Leeds University say that we should take these hunches seriously. They have discovered that “intuition is the result of the way our brains store, process and retrieve information on a subconscious level and so is a real psychological phenomenon. [...] Intuition is the brain drawing on past experiences and external cues to make a decision – but one that happens so fast the reaction is at a non-conscious level. All we’re aware of is a general feeling that something is right or wrong.”

Of course, don’t go thinking that this means you should always go with your gut. But there is enough evidence to suggest that you might want to consider what it’s telling you, especially if your detailed analysis was leading you in another direction.

My gut tells me this makes sense.

Marc over at MarcandAngel put forth this list of things in life that we all have to figure out for ourselves. Though there is a lot you can learn from other people, from reading and observing life, some things you really just have to work out for yourself. It’s actually just part of what life is.

1. Love – Nobody can teach you this one. Everybody’s experience of love is different so you have to learn the rules for yourself.
2. Friendship – We all spend our lives working out exactly who our friends are, making new ones, distancing ourselves from the failed friendships.
3. Loss – One of the hardest things in life is learning how to grieve in your own way. But trying to force it will only make it worse and harder for it to go away.
4. The Short vs. Long Catch-22 – Though it is difficult to predict the future, our actions today can impact on tomorrow. Sometimes we need to sacrifice for the bigger picture.
5. Self-Forgiveness – Our hardest critic is usually ourselves. We beat ourselves up for mistakes everyone else has long forgotten. Learning to forgive ourselves is a vital skill.
6. Life Balance – Extremes are not usually a good thing, at least not in the long run. Balance (whether in food, work etc.) is an ideal sought by many to provide the best route to a healthy life.
7. Responsibility and Independence – Learning this one is a major part of growing up. At some point in our lives we all face those moments when we are forced to realize this.
8. Character Identity – The big question of “Who am I?” haunts some people for years into their adulthood. The search for their real self is a journey they have to make for themselves.
9. Betrayal – There is no easy way to prepare for this, and many people may never experience it, but those who do have to find a way to get past it without letting the hurt control them.
10. Happiness and Success – As Marc put it, “happiness is doing what you love, and success is excelling at doing what you love“. We each have to figure out for ourselves what it is that we love and how to do it, and then do it to the best of our ability.