Chatty, I can't see God allowing us to live on this earth without that inner voice to guide us. We make a lot of mistakes by not listening to it so imagine if it was never there!? I also believe women were given an extra dose of intuition, more so than men. When I take the time to slow down, pray and meditate, it's amazing how much I can develop better intuition. It's in the listening and stillness.

Cathi, thank you so much for opening up. It's difficult to share at first because some people will tell you to just leave him without taking everything into consideration. I once spoke with a shrink who told me he had a client who was over 60 and not in a position to leave her abusive husband financially. So, she learned to protect herself using his fear of being exposed. When he would raise his hand to her, she would tell him that she'd call the police and it would ruin his career. It always stopped him. I at first thought it was a horrible way to live but her options were limited because of her age.

I could rant for hours about churches. Why is it okay for him to abuse me and not okay for me to leave him? Don't get me started!

For quite a while, I denied that I had seen anything in my ex before we were married. But, there were some control issues I noticed that he would quickly stop doing when I called him on it. I thought he realized I wouldn't put up with it and what a mistake that was. They don't know anything but control.