Lesson 1: Follow your gut/intuition

Everyone has that little voice inside their heads. Not your conscience, that other voice, the one that tells you when things are going right or wrong. I do not mean those little voices that qualify you as 'crazy'. Maybe you just get that nagging feeling in your belly. For me, it can be both the little voice and that nagging feeling.

I used to be terrified of dating and the prospect of physical touch. I didn't bother to try and really date until I was nineteen. When I did finally decide to give dating a try (dating someone is considered 'normal', right?), I opted for a guy that seemed good on paper. We talked and decided to meet in person (we had mutual friends). My first initial gut reaction was "Ummm, no, this is not going to work. Everything is wrong." I thought I was being too quick to judge and that I should give it a shot. I thought I was just going back into my too scared to date previous position. Looking back now, I should have followed that initial gut feeling. It was dead on.

When I dated my second boyfriend (who consequently ended up becoming my husband... more lessons on that later), I did not get that initial gut warning. Things seemed fine. It was little behaviors later that would trigger a red flag that I would ignore, time again and again.

I firmly believe that our gut or intuition is nature's way of warning us of danger. Our sort of wake up call that is trying desperately to tell us "You shouldn't go that way, you should/shouldn't make those plans, this person is lying to you, this person is wrong for you, etc.". We don't all have guardian angels complete with clubs ready to knock us upside the head whenever we are about to make a bad mistake. I know I have heard from friends and family many times of them telling me they had a bad feeling about something and ignored it. So, now I have learned to trust that all important gut feeling. Lets see if I can remember to trust it.