Story Time: Trust Your Gut

Let me tell you a story about something that happened to me recently.

I was out at my girlfriend’s birthday party and we were having a blast, playing board games, cracking jokes, it was a good time. But, one person had a little bit too much of a good time and drank more than they expected. I’m proud to say, the people at the party came to her defense and took her keys so that she couldn’t drive home. I was sober and ended up driving her car to my girlfriends place for safe keeping. Disaster averted!

Well, not so fast!  

The next morning, we stepped outside and the car was gone. We paced up and down the block looking for her car and it was nowhere to be found. Was it towed? Was it stolen? Had she come by and grabbed it? I couldn’t help but feel responsible because I was the last person to have known its location. Then, I started second guessing myself. Did I leave the car unlocked?  I had a few things in my hands, maybe I forgot to lock it. Plus, her keys looked exactly like mine because we both have Subaru's. So, did I make a mistake and try locking the car with the wrong set of keys? My mind went wild and I thought I totally blew it.

Long story short, she came by with her spare key and drove it home, not telling us that she did so. And let me tell you, it was a massive wave of relief!

But, the interesting part is, I doubted myself. I’d like to think I’m a fairly responsible guy, but when the hint of a mistake crept in I started thinking about all of the mistakes I could have made, and was convincing myself one was true. But, alas, that wasn’t the case, just a simple miscommunication.

I say this all as a reminder to trust your gut. I should have known that I did the right thing and would receive the right result. It’s okay to make mistakes, but that shouldn’t become our default way of thinking. Trust your own capabilities and it’s likely you’ll be able to take care of yourself!