Instincts are deffo to be listened to. We know things and we know not how. From time to time when the phone rings I know who it is and what they are going to tell me, always when it's bad news. I do not know how that werks.
Once, I was about 8, we had a cat who died. I was distraught. Months passed and one day the phone rang. I said to my Mum, 'That is Mrs X and she is calling to say she has found a ginger kitten for us.'
It was, and she had. Spooky