It's interesting, I've had a lot of discussion lately about gut instincts and going with it. 85.6% of the time (yes, that's my scientific number) I believe in going with my gut. It rarely steers me wrong. I have an inherent feeling when something is right and when something feels "off"... right until I don't. I've been known to miss a sign or two. I've been known to ignore a sign or two. I've allowed others to talk me out of my first thought. I've also been known to overthink. I also know people whose instincts are always off. And there are conditions that made instincts a little shaky. Here are five things that mess with your gut:
- Self-Doubt. Your instincts are only as good as your self-confidence. If you second guess the hell out of your self, your gut doesn't know which way is up. You have to know who you are, what you believe it and what you are willing to do before you step out on faith. If your in the wilderness, your instincts are as well.
- Sex. Stellar cocoa can pickle the brain, muddle the mind, stop your heart, stealth your breath and twist your gut into pretzel shapes. Admit it or not, crazy good bed game can blind you to all else but getting more of that good-good. People have overlooked flaming red flags punctuated by firecrackers because they were too busy getting busy. Pheromones and endorphins, ya'll. Not. To. Be. Played. With.
- Love. See #2 about stellar cocoa and multiply it to the nth degree. Once the heart is engaged, all bets are off.
- Naivete. I consider myself relatively worldly but I still get stunned by things and have to shake my head at myself. There's always someone who'll do something to catch you off guard. If you haven't seen it before, you don't recognize it. Your gut can't do anything with that. Accept it, fix it, move on.
- Thirst. It's real. When you are parched as hell, you'll overlook a lot of ish to get to that oasis. Even if it's just a mirage. Your gut may be screaming "Don't Do IT!" but the thirst hath taken over. Who hasn't just wanted a little sip of sumthin' sumthin'?
Bonus sixth thing-
History. You don't need to have been shot before to be gun-shy. You could have heard gunfire or been next to someone waving a gun or looked in someone's eyes and realized that if they had a gun you'd be deader than Paula Deen's career right now. All of this winding analogy to say - history has a tendency to repeat itself and those of us to whom history has not been kind? Tend not to want to repeat the same experiences. Sometimes our gut gets to churning when something starts feeling familiar in that "oh no, not this shiggity again" way. Sometimes the warning is legit, sometimes we're just damn skittish and getting in our own way.
Long story short - trust your gut but level set it. Engage your brain and ask others around you *whose opinions you trust) if you are right or wrong. I was in a discussion last week about online dating and whether one should fact-check their dates. I say yes indeedy. At the very least peep their social media and Google them just to see what comes up. On a whim I Googled a guy I work with. Why? There's just something a little "hinky" about dude. First thing that came up was his mugshot for an assault and battery charge. #Awkward. I didn't say anything and since I work virtually I'll never see him but that was just a 20 second Google where I put in his name, city and state. Imagine if I got to digging around. Folks are wildin' - if your gut says something is off - it probably is.
Are you the type of person that "goes with your gut" and has it ever steered you wrong? Do share...