We are all guilty of it. Second guessing yourself is one of the most challenging things to avoid. Whether it be staying in a relationship, choosing a college, or even circling A or B on a test, choices are tough when you aren’t sure of yourself. I may only be 19, but if I have learned anything in the last three or so years, it is to go with your gut.
Think about a time in your life when you had to make a decision, one that your heart had been telling you to make. For whatever reason, however, you were too scared to listen to it. Inevitably, the end result that you had feared would happen did happen, and there you were, beating yourself up because you had been right all along. Wouldn’t it have been easier if you had just listened to your intuition the first time?
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I think ignoring that voice in your head is easiest when it's about something others have told you that you need. You may know that you aren't going to end up with your boyfriend who treats you horribly, but he adds to your current life--you have mutual friends, you have fun together, you convince yourself to ignore your gut and postpone the inevitable, which only results in greater pain and disappointment later on. Or worse, he could be good to you and is everything you want, but you can just feel it in your gut that he isn't right for you. That may be worse, because not understanding why your instincts say what they do is a difficult feeling to overcome.
In college, nearly everyone ignores their gut when it comes to being sure of your major or what you want to do for the rest of your life. The future will always be unforeseeable, which makes it easy to just assume you are being anxious, when in reality you may be ignoring what your heart is telling you. I'm still confused about what I want to do with my life, but changing majors allowed me to feel like I am at least not ignoring my intuition and my potential.
Every decision you make, whether it be life-changing or hour-changing, is important. Every decision you make can cause a ripple effect to future events. It seems like people all too often settle for their current circumstances or for what is easiest, but not what their heart is telling them, no matter what that may be about.
But why live life in a way that prevents you from reaching for your highest potential? If your gut and your heart are guiding you in one direction but you go the other, you will never know what that path could have taken you on. This could be as simple as talking to the person next to you on the plane and as complex as deciding whether or not to move across the country.
I'm going to start going with my gut, are you?
