Have you ever had a recurring dream that you may not have been able to make sense of until many months, or even years, later?

Or have you ever had a strong feeling, a deep intuition, telling you that you should or should not do something? And have you ever ignored that feeling only to regret it later?

Intuition is a sixth sense that everyone is born with. Some are more sensitive or in tune with it than others concerning their sixth sense. Whether you refer to it as intuition, sixth sense, or another term, there are times when you should pay attention to it.

Intuition shouldn’t be confused with premonition and precognition. There are a few distinct differences between premonition and precognition, but in a nutshell, they both are forewarnings of future events. One of the main distinctions between the two is that premonitions occur far in advance of the event or crisis and precognition (such as dreams that have come true a few days later) occur within 1-2 days of the event or crisis.

Another is that premonitions usually, but not always, are foretelling of a negative event. Both can also represent the future event or crisis in the form of symbolism or literally.

While it may be difficult to determine when we should pay serious attention to the dreams or visions we’re experiencing, scientists who have conducted studies on the subject suggest ever, to make this a little easier, experts offer the following suggestions:

• If the dream or vision warns of a health crisis or death
• If the dream or vision is numinous, highly vivid, or “more real than real”
• If the dream or vision is recurrent, appearing often on the same night or successive nights, demanding your attention
• If the dream or vision is associated with physical symptoms
• If the dream or vision is experienced independently by a spouse, lover, partner, or close friend

I bring this topic up because I have had quite a few experiences with both premonition and precognition. It feels odd to be able to say this, but it seems as if things of this nature are becoming more and more acceptable than they were even 10+ years ago. I don’t feel like such a “freak” anymore. Well … mostly.

For the longest time, I was afraid to asleep. I didn’t want to dream, so I would quite literally stay awake for as long as I possibly could before just passing out from sheer exhaustion. I got that way because I had dreamt of several deaths, a few were recurring dreams, which all became real anywhere from 3 weeks to 12 months later.

The problem wasn’t so much that I was “seeing” or perhaps being “warned” of the impending doom; the problem was I could never see the faces of the people who were dying. I had a sense of whether or not they were close to me, brief flashes or glimpses of certain details, but that was about it. It made me wonder why I was being shown something if I wasn’t going to be allowed to take steps to prevent it or even just warn the person.

The one death dream that devastated me the most hit very close to home. The dreams began during the summer of 1992. At first, I would see mostly blurred images, with the occasional sharp detail; such as a blurry crowd of people but a beautiful flower was in sharp, clear focus. Every recurrence would reveal just a little more detail and the closer to the date in which the dream became real, the amount of time between having the same dream would reduce. It reached the point where I was seeing the same thing in my dreams 3-4 times per week.

The most detail I was ever shown was a crowd of people, but they were blurry. I could make out individual shapes, but nothing identifiable. I knew I was in a funeral home because I was shown the corner of a beautiful powder-blue casket with a large spray of flowers resting on top of it.

I can still see it, clear as day, along with the minute details of the carvings in one of the rails, as the pallbearers carry the casket by. I can smell the fragrance of the flowers and hear the garbled murmurings of the people speaking quietly.

I didn’t approach, just stood there and kept my distance from everyone. I had an overwhelming feeling that the person in the casket was family. I’d hear my name being called as if someone were trying to reach out to me from a great distance, but I wasn’t able to determine if the voice was female or male. Then I’d wake up.

Fast-forward a little more than a year to November of 1993. This was the month my dad celebrated his golden birthday, the BIG 5-0! I wanted to do something really special for my dad’s birthday. Since country music is one of the genres he enjoys, I suggested that we surprise him with a trip to Nashville, Tennessee for the weekend. The weekend was enjoyable and shortly after hitting the road to return home, the transmission in my dad’s car went out when he was roughly 3 hours away from home. When he finally did get home, he took the car to Multistate Transmission. Monday morning at around 8:00 a.m., the phone rang. The caller ID displayed the caller as Interstate Multi … and of course, I assumed it was the transmission place calling to talk to my dad.

I was surprised when the caller asked to speak with my mother. Shortly after she took the phone, she slowly sat down on the couch, and less than a minute later, she dropped the phone and ran to her bedroom.

My dad took the phone and talked with the police officer on the other end. My dad sat down after he hung up, and he immediately went to my mom who was inconsolable. Her sister had been murdered the morning we left to go to Tennessee. As if that weren’t terrible enough, it was her husband who killed her.