Do you always trust your gut? Do you listen to that little voice that “answers” when you pose a question? Should you always listen or ignore that little voice? I learned the hard way that trusting my gut was one of the smartest, sensible, and sanest things that one should ever do. What took me so long to realize this is beyond me.
For many, many years, I simply ignored my gut. If I was not given the “answer” that I wanted, I simply ignored it thinking that I knew best. I never knew what that voice really was, so ignoring it seemed the best course of action. Why worry when I knew what was best for me. Right.
In hindsight, this gut thing really started for me the day I unfortunately got married. As I gazed into the face of my loving, handsome groom, my gut kept telling me, ”don’t marry him, don’t marry him”. My Dad must have sensed my reluctance and advised me that I could change my mind. Not wanting to “hurt anyone’s feelings”, I went through with the wedding. As I now look back on that ill-fated day, I realize that my gut was warning me to “run away, as fast as I could: that his guy was not for me”. I should have listened to my gut because troubles began shortly after the wedding and in ten years I was divorced without any consideration for my “feelings”. I had my ”feelings badly hurt”, but he never really considered anyone ever except himself anyway; the divorce was no different. This whole experience was one that I now know could have been avoided had I just listened to my gut.
A few years ago, I was chatting with some friends about this whole gut thing. I needed advice and did not know exactly what I should do. I made lists, wrote down my thoughts, talked with a counselor, talked with friends, all to no avail. Finally, I chatted with my pastor who listened patiently as I spoke at length about my problem. He took a deep breath and then said, ”what does your gut say?” I nearly fell out of my chair and reluctantly told him what it said. He advised me to follow my gut. I then realized that I not listened to my gut years ago and that turned out rather badly. Maybe I should be listening now to my gut now and stop fighting it. (Another wow moment. for me). I questioned him at length about this gut thing and his answer was not what I expected at all: that my gut was the voice of God guiding me to do what I needed to do. I was speechless and yet not totally surprised. I felt a strange calmness and peacefulness like never before and decided to listen to my gut, even if it was a very difficult thing to do at the time. (Who am I to argue with God anyway, I thought). So I followed my gut and solved my problem in a way that left me eventually in a calmer and more peaceful place. I knew what I needed to do, did it, and my life has been good. I should have been listening to my gut earlier instead of telling it what I thought it should be telling me. I will not make that mistake ever again.
So feisty ladies! If the gut works for my pastor friend, Leroy Jethro Gibbs of NCIS who always tells his agents to follow their gut in solving their cases, and a long time friend who just last week told me that she has always known what that gut voice really is, who am I to disagree? I just wish that I had figured this out sooner. So listen to your gut and let it be your guide. Your life will be easier, less stressful, and happier if you just listen.