Giving Your Heart, Losing Yourself: Learning to Listen to Intuition

Some people are masterful at deception.

They look you in the eye, say all the right things, and make you believe in a love that never truly existed. They don’t just tell lies—they live them, breathing them in and out so effortlessly that even the most intuitive among us can get caught in their illusion.

I saw the cracks. I saw the red flags. I ignored them. Not because I didn’t know better, not because I didn’t trust myself, but because I wanted to believe him. Because he played the part so well.

Until he couldn’t anymore.

The Power of a Well-Told Lie

I never questioned my worth in this relationship—I knew exactly who I was and what I brought to the table. I didn’t bend myself to keep him, and I didn’t try to prove my value.

Instead, I sat back and watched as he disproved his.

I watched his actions contradict his words. I watched his choices take precedence over integrity. I watched him feed his demons at the cost of what he claimed to cherish.

And still, I stayed. Not because I was blind, but because I was hopeful. Because I wanted so badly for the person he pretended to be to be real.

Ignoring the Intuition That Tried to Save Me

The gut feeling was there from the beginning—a quiet whisper, a subtle unease, a knowing that I buried beneath the weight of his words. He was convincing, so damn convincing, that even as my intuition screamed at me, I silenced it.

I told myself, Maybe I’m overthinking. Maybe I need to trust more. Maybe love requires a little more patience.

But love does not require blindness. It does not ask us to ignore the truth staring us in the face.

When the proof was finally in my hands, when the lies were no longer just suspicions but undeniable facts, I knew staying would be a question of my self-worth.

And that was a question I would never have to ask myself.

Walking Away With My Head High

The hardest part of leaving wasn’t heartbreak—it was accepting the fact that I had seen the truth all along. That I knew. That my intuition had tried to protect me, and I had chosen to believe a fantasy instead.

But I do not blame myself for loving deeply. I do not regret giving my heart, because my love was real.

His was not.

And that is not my burden to carry.

The Lesson: Trusting Myself Again

This experience didn’t teach me my worth—I already knew that. But it taught me something just as valuable:

✨ If my intuition tells me something is off, I will listen the first time.

✨ If actions and words don’t align, I will believe the actions.

✨ If someone’s love demands I silence my own knowing, it is not love—it is manipulation.

I didn’t lose myself in this relationship. I simply ignored my own wisdom. And now, I refuse to ever do that again.

The next time love finds me, it will not have to convince me to stay. It will simply feel right.

And when it does, I’ll know.

-Heartfully Nicole