Book: Trust Your Feelings: learning how to make choices with Ignatius of Loyola

Trust Your Feelings: learning how to make choices with Ignatius of Loyola by Nikolaas Sintobin SJ is published in Ireland and the UK by Messenger Publications.

A current radio advertisement describes our decision-making process as 'procrastinating for hours, then making decisions on a whim'. Looked at another way, this can be viewed as the practice of active discernment. Our decisions are never made in a vacuum; we bring our values, our intelligence, our emotions - and our prejudices - to every decision we make in our daily lives.

But how do we choose the course of action that is best for us? How do we, or even should we, prioritise between out head and our heart? And can we trust our own judgement at the end of the day?

A new book, Trust Your Feelings: learning how to make choices with Ignatius of Loyola by Nikolaass Sintobin SJ addresses all these issues in a concrete and practical approach. St Ignatius is considered by many to be an expert in discernment and his systematic approach balances heart, intelligence and will. This book uses the basis of Ignatian discernment to explain and illustrate with specific examples how the process and practice of discernment can help us learn to trust our own feelings in order to make informed, reflective decisions.

Although based in Catholic theology, Trust Your Feelings is written for a broad audience, with the discernment process applicable to those of all faiths and none. The book opens with a general overview of the practice and goes on to demonstrate how discernment can be used in everyday life, with ten emotionally charged situations as examples. Finally, it addresses the question of whether or not discernment is reserved for Christians, and also briefly discusses discernment in a community setting. The book concludes with a reflection on discernment as a way of life.

A Flemish Jesuit priest, Nikolaas Sintobin SJ has been a teacher and a chaplain in the Jesuit high schools of Paris and Antwerp, specialising in Ignatian spirituality and pedagogy. He has worked as an internet chaplain for the past 10 years.

Trust Your Feelings: learning how to make choices with Ignatius of Loyola by Nikolaas Sintobin SJ is published in Ireland and the UK by Messenger Publications. It is priced at €12.95/£11.95