When You Trust Your Gut (And It’s Totally Wrong)

“Always trust your gut.”

You’ve heard that, right? It’s this phrase that comes burrowing into our lives, time and time again. It’s that little voice. The something that explains the unexplainable. The rumbling in your stomach that you know isn’t hunger. It’s the feeling.

Maybe it’s there to warn us. Maybe it’s encouraging, this comforting little push. But we can always sense it, just nestled in the back, whispering.

It’s our intuitions who can be our greatest champion, or maybe the most annoying, the asshole who says, “Hey, remember when I told you this would happen? Should have listened, huh?”

But what do you do when you listen to your gut and it’s completely wrong?



You saw no warning signs. Everything inside gave you a green light, full steam ahead. Your heart, your brain, your body, they all agreed. Yes, this is right. This is good. For once, everything inside you was on the same page. It was new. It was clarity, and you’re so used to mess. You couldn’t believe how perfectly clear it all was.

So you trusted it. You listened. You put full faith because, let’s face it, it has always been right. Even when you didn’t want to admit it, your gut knew what was best.

But it fails you. It tells you sunny skies and a storm rolls in.

And everything came crashing down. Dumbfounded, you searched for some sort of explanation. “But, how?” becomes your unasked for lullaby. You make yourself sick replaying conversations, trying to find the spot your gut missed. Your intuition let you down.

You wonder if at the core, you let yourself down. Maybe you were the fool. In your lowest moments, you will wonder if you are broken. You are the car just sputtering along and when it finally gets checked out in the shop, the mechanic just shakes his head.

“Nothing I can do.”

But these moments are here for a purpose greater than the heartbreak they cause. They swoop in, knocking you off your feet (and not in the fun way), but trust in what they come to teach you. When you believe in something wholeheartedly, you have made a choice to be brave. You have made the decision to put your heart and energy into something that could very easily explode. Even if your gut is wrong.

You weren’t wrong. Because you were 100%. And that’s beautiful, don’t you think?

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