Go with your Gut
Your tummy always knows.
We’ve all had that feeling in our stomach where we want to do something but there is an annoying level of uncertainty that we keep coming back to — go with that feeling. If you’re having doubts for any reason it’s probably a sign that you should pay attention to. I learned to trust my gut at a young age. Something happened to me as a child that I’ll never forget, it was a life lesson for me back then.
I was in the second grade and Anthony wanted to borrow 10 cents, he was short a whole dime for his ice cream sandwich at lunch. Now Anthony was known as the class liar; in second-grade news travels fast. He would borrow crayons from everyone and not return them, erasers were always mysteriously missing from the class pencil case, and everyone had lent Anthony 10 cents at some point or another so I guess it was just my turn. Knowing all of this, and against my better judgment, I gave him the 10 cents, it was my good deed for the day so it was ok. Anthony was a no-show at school the next day and the day after that. Weeks became months and months became the end of the school year, Anthony was gone forever! I knew he would find a way to get out of giving me the 10 cents he owed me, he transferred schools so he wouldn’t have to pay me, what a scammer! From that day on I refused to do anything that I felt uneasy about — oh the mentality of a child. I’m chuckling to myself as I write this; if only adulthood was this simple to understand.
Funny as it may be, that experience made me trust my feelings growing up. I haven’t always listened to my gut though — more recently, my birthday to be exact, my husband and I decided to book a last-minute trip to Florida. Now we’re planners but this was a great opportunity; the tickets were cheap, we were itching to go on vacation, and we were celebrating, why not?! Against our better judgment, we rushed and booked a trip to leave in 4 days — I’m sure you know where this is going. Not only did we not end up going on our trip due to an expected hurricane, but we also lost money. We were so caught up in the excitement of going on vacation that we failed to do the proper research; the weather forecast was readily available and the fine print on our reservation clearly stated that our trip was non-refundable.
My husband and I are usually in sync. What’s ironic, is that we both felt uneasy about the trip from the beginning but neither of us questioned it. We failed to pay attention to the red flags and trust ourselves and we had to pay for it, quite literally. I’m not saying that our guts will always be right, some of us suffer from anxiety, and that in and of itself can be enough to make your mind unnecessarily wander in a million directions. What I am saying is that life is busy — sometimes we need to make quick decisions, but we don’t always have to rush everything we do. If you feel a certain way about something, consider why that might be. Take your time when appropriate, make responsible choices and weigh your options without overthinking. Often we already have the answers, we just fail to use them.
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