Have you ever followed your gut instinct?

[Karibo]

Hi guys.

 

I was wondering if anyone here has ever followed their gut instinct about something quite major in their lives. I was wondering if you went for something because it just felt so right even though logically it seemed that the odds were against you and no-one else could see you succeeding?

 

What happened? Did you succeed how you felt you would? Were you glad you followed your gut instinct?

 

Thanks.

[Süsser Tod]

Yes, and she is my girlfriend now. Everyone in here thought I was wasting my time and that she didn't cared about me. Well, she did, and I wasn't wasting my time, it is only that she had a lot of fear about getting into a relationship, and she, well, sucks at the dating game.

[shes2smart]

I accepted my husband's wedding proposal a week after our first date, because it felt like the right thing to do.

 

Best decision either of us has ever made.

 

However, it is sometimes very easy to mistake "gut feeling" for "wishful thinking." I've done that before, too. I wouldn't recommend it.

 

Other than hindsight, I don't know a fool proof way to distinguish between "gut feeling" and "wishful thinking" with 100% accuracy, though.

[coollady1957]

I have many, many times followed my gut feeling or instincts. I usually do not act on the spur of the moment though when I have a gut feeling. I usually try to give it some time to see how things go and see if that instinctive feeling seems to be real.

 

A few times I waited too long to follow my gut feeling and ended up in a messy situation. I would say that the majority of the time my gut instincts were correct.

 

I can agree with S2S that it could sometimes be hard to determine the difference in our gut instincts and a wishful thinking type thing.

[Tigris]

I took a chance and proposed over the phone to my fiancee even though we hadn't met in person. I live in England and she lives in Australia.

 

We'd communicated by MSN for a while and then I talked to her on the phone and sent some photos. I travelled to Victoria in February and arrived on her birthday. That was the first time I'd ever had a lesbian relationship. I proposed properly on bended knee that night. We're very happy and we're trying to solve some problems before we can get together. We're getting married next year in July.

[talo]

I have found that gut-feeling/intuition tells me not what I _think_ I really want or like, but what I really need to do. If gut feeling coincides with thinking then I don't even notice it, but when it doesn't I do.

 

In other words, what we _think_ we like, need, or want, is not _really_ 'what is best for us'. What is best for us is what is happening, whether we like it or not.

 

It has taken me a long time to realise that liking does not necessarily mean loving.

[coollady1957]

IN addition to my previous post, I will add , that YES I am glad that I followed my gut feelings and instincts.

 

DO you care to tel l us what this major thing in your life is, that you are having concerns about whether to follow your instincts or not?

[Momene]

Generally no. I try to think logically about a situation instead of relying on a feeling. Sometimes a gut instinct makes me think of something but I usuallt have 2nd thoughts.

[Suladan]

I believe in trusting my feelings. As a Jedi once said, your senses can decieve you, don't trust them. If you trust your judgement without letting emotions and other thoughts get in the way and distort your views things will go right.

[Belle]

After one bad relationship a few years ago, I realized I had to start listening to my gut. My gut told me that this guy was a real whopper of a jerk and I wanted to believe otherwise.

 

In my last relationship, I decided to listen to my gut before getting involved. Somehow, my gut told me I could trust this person and that it would be a good relationship. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case and I'm quite bewildered because my gut is usually right.

[Suladan]

Your feelings are usually right. However, you can cloud them with emotions and thoughts, and without knowing it have twisted what your feelings truly tell you.

[talo]

Well said Suladan. How can feelings ever be wrong? Righting and wronging is thinking. Investing your self in thinking - righting and wronging - is emotion.

[yeawutever]

Usually when you don't feel something is right, then you should listen to what that voice is telling you. Like I sorta mess up when I accepted this guy who's now my ex as b/f, when inside I knew I wasn't ready for a relation, it caught me by surprise, but since I wanted to knwo what it was like having a b/f for the first time, I turn changed my answer to a "yea". Glad I found out enough information about him to cut the relation within just 7 days of dating.

Next I'll only accept a relation if I'm really ready and what I'm feeling is deep emotions and not just infatuation.

[Karibo]

Well there is this guy i dated a couple of years ago but it ended because we both weren't ready for a serious relationship but we both really liked each other. It was a case of the right combination, but the wrong timing.

 

A couple of months ago we got back in contact and it was obvious that our feelings for each other had not lessened one bit - in fact it felt as if our feelings for each other had increased. However, though i feel i have changed considerably in this time apart, he still says he is not ready for anything serious, and it's not just with me, but with anyone because he feels he doesn't love or respect himself enough to be able to love and respect me the way i deserve to be.

 

For the whole two years we were appart, i tried my hardest to forget him and to get over him. I prayed to God that we would stop loving each other because my life seemed in total anti-climax since him and still does. I tried my hardest to ignore him, cast him from my thoughts, but everything I did didn't work. I had re-occurring dreams about us every night where we were at opposite sides of a huge crowd of people just staring at each other. We then kept bumping into each other and I tried to be pollite but i couldn't handle seeing him.

 

Then one day he came to me and told me how he'd quit his job so he would be home all the time and he was very excited at the prospect of seeing me more often. The trouble is he is still not ready to commit to anyone and you can't force these things.

 

I am a religious person and I just know that God is telling me to stay open to him. I know for sure that this is not just wishful thinking because for two whole years i wished to fall out of love with him but God had other plans. The day i realised that this was a 'knowing' - a gut feeling, a sign from God, was when I got into an argument with my friend who just didn't 'get it'. Logically I couldn't even understand it myself, but that day and everyday since I feel a knowing - a calm but intense sensation in my stomach that just made it feel so right to stop resisting him and travel back towards him.

 

When i tried to forget about him for those two years it constantly felt as if i was trying to travel upstream in a canoe with no paddle - that day when i knew inside what i had to do - it felt amazing. I never felt so clear in my whole life. suddenly all the struggle evaporated and i felt in my gut and heart that i was on the right track 100%.

 

The thing is, i know at this point in his life he is far from ready for anything serious. I know he deeply cares for me but the time isn't right. How long is God going to make me wait? I will be patient, but sometimes my mind buts in and says "it will never work out?" "What if you're wasting your time?" "what if you miss other opportunities?" "What if he finds someone else?" "What should I do???" but then my gut says, don't worry it will all work out - you will be together.

 

It's just scary to know how to react to my gut instinct.

[talo]

Karibo, I have copied part of your post and put some words in brackets:

~~

I am a religious person and I just know that God is telling me to stay open to him(God). I know for sure that this is not just wishful thinking because for two whole years i wished to fall out of love with him(God) but God had other plans. The day i realised that this was a 'knowing' - a gut feeling, a sign from God, was when I got into an argument with my friend who just didn't 'get it'. Logically I couldn't even understand it myself, but that day and everyday since I feel a knowing - a calm but intense sensation in my stomach that just made it feel so right to stop resisting him(God) and travel back towards him(God).

 

When i tried to forget about him(God) for those two years it constantly felt as if i was trying to travel upstream in a canoe with no paddle - that day when i knew inside what i had to do - it felt amazing. I never felt so clear in my whole life. suddenly all the struggle evaporated and i felt in my gut and heart that i was on the right track 100%.

 

The thing is, i know at this point in his(Gods) life he(God) is far from ready for anything serious. I know he(God) deeply cares for me but the time isn't right. How long is God going to make me wait? I will be patient, but sometimes my mind buts in and says "it will never work out?" "What if you're wasting your time?" "what if you miss other opportunities?" "What if he(God) finds someone else?" "What should I do???" but then my gut says, don't worry it will all work out - you will be together.

~~

 

Being together is not being fragmented, here-and-there. Being together is being whole, enough, adequate, _now_.

 

Not being together is the opposite of this.

 

One never waits to be together.