It's easy to get emotional and lay blame when something so devastating as a school shooting happens in our country. And from my perspective, it's also easy to feel, very deeply, the pain that the children of our world are living with every day.

It makes the work of empowering women and providing them a hand so they can be leaders and role models in their homes so much more important.

Women are the future.

Healthy, adult, resourced women innately understand non-violent conflict resolution, compassion and a sense of social justice. It is through feminine characteristics of connection, empathy and love that women create space for processing emotions, taming fears and extending hugs. Women run their households, raise their children and provide leadership at work. Men do too but only when they can tap into their healthy feminine side. And women need order, structure, strength and achievement-focused goals drawn from the masculine in all of us.

The world is changing and we, as powerful women, need to realize our essential role in shifting the tide. And not just for our children (the ones who live in our homes) but for ALL children. And for all adults who were once children.

When people feel alone, hopeless, isolated and unable to reach out for help it's everyone's problem.

When children take guns and kill their friends because they are so angry they feel trapped and out of options, the consequences belong to all of us.

Have you ever looked back on a situation and thought, “I knew that wasn’t right for me”?

Have you ever felt really nervous about a decision despite carefully working through all possible outcomes in your mind and then had it turn out poorly?

Have you ever developed goose bumps during a conversation that seemed completely unexpected?

As a physician, I was initially trained to use hard facts, scientific answers and peer-reviewed literature to manage patients. It wasn’t until I was a medical student on the pediatric ward with a very astute senior resident that I learned about the concept of “mother’s intuition”. He reminded me that mothers “just know” their children and if mom is concerned, the medical team needs to take her seriously. This was contrary to a lot of my training focused on NOT listening to emotional parents in order to avoid clouded judgment.

As time goes on and life experience has added to my database, I have come to realize that we all have an innate sense at our disposal. You can call it intuition, Divine guidance, a sixth sense,  or just plain gut feelings.

In keeping with the mystery, it’s hard to put into words.

But whether we can describe it or not, the important thing is that we can use it to guide our path.

As our generation of women step into bigger possibilities and yearn for deeper life purpose, we must also cultivate our intuitive powers. Having access to this intimate knowledge at crucial junctures is essential for an authentic life, aligned with core values. Intuition provides the breadcrumbs that lead you home to a whole-hearted, purpose-driven, fully realized life.

We live in a world that has been dominated by a masculine approach. My profession has been, predominantly, lead by men and women who have embodied this approach, including myself. Medicine and many other professions are focused on structure, timelines, productivity, determination, discipline and physical stamina. Women have been incredibly successful in many realms where they have learned, through years of hard work, to walk, talk and think like a man. And it’s been an essential part of how we have been elevated to our current place in the professional world. We need women to step up and embrace the logic and task-oriented approach that has gained us a seat at the table. I am grateful to those women (and those qualities in all of us) for how far we have come.

Centuries of living in a world created by men, for men, have taught us not to trust our feminine instincts. Yet, many women sense that something is missing. Restlessness and overwhelm have become the norm. Intuition whispers that there is better way. Inner yearnings are waking us up to possibilities that were, until now, impossible.