What Gets In The Way Of Trusting Your Instinct?

I contemplated bringing my huge golf umbrella in with me to Starbucks. After all, it was only slightly raining, and I was sure I could run into the café without getting soaked. Plus, this is Syracuse, NY. It rarely rains ALL DAY (now snow is a different story). However, here I am, over 3 hours later sitting in Starbucks and the rain still has not let up. It’s actually been raining really hard since I entered the café. Oh, and I decided not to bring the umbrella in with me.

This got me to thinking, how many times have I made a decision, only to decide to follow a different path than what I had decided on at the last minute? I find myself doing this a lot. Here are a few examples.

-Since my gas light is on, I decide to get gas on my way home from work so that I won’t have to deal with it in the morning. Once I start my venture home, I decide I am too tired and will just go straight home. Once the morning comes, I am running late anyway, and now I am much later because I have to get gas if I want to go anywhere! This is when I start cursing myself.

-I decide that I will pack for a weekend away the day before leaving. This gives me time to pick my outfits, gather my jewelry, makeup, etc. Then I tell myself that there’s no need to pack so early. I end up packing in a hurry and with frustration the day we leave. Then I am running late which is aggravating.

I guess what I am learning is that my first instincts are usually the best ones. I need to trust these and rely on them more. Usually, the little red guy comes along and gives me a million reasons why I shouldn’t trust myself. Sometimes I just have to fight back! Last night I started obsessing about how badly the house needed to be vacuumed. I told myself that I would vacuum after my favorite show, The Office, was over. Once it ended, guess what happened? The red guy came along and told me that I could vacuum in the morning so no need to get off the couch! I firmly told him to stop. I stood up, got out the vacuum and the rest is history. I ended up going to bed with a cleaner house and one less thing I had to worry about today.

Was there a time in the past when you ignored your instinct? What happened? What gets in the way of you trusting your first instinct?