My girlfriend and I were talking about instincts and how as women, we need to trust, rather doubt them. I'm a huge fan of trusting my instincts they have never steered me wrong.
The other night, I was driving home, enjoying music, I turned off of a main street and headed up the hill to my apartment. Out of nowhere, there was this car behind me and it seemed like they were trying to run me off the road they were going so fast. They were riding my bumper and had the high beams on; the lights lit up the inside of my car. I immediately pulled over to let the speed demon past me. Then they immediately pulled over in front of me and turned off the lights. I figured hmmmm.... do they live there? No one got out of the car. I got that "can't describe feeling" but it would be equivalent to the hairs standing on the back of your neck. I proceeded to drive off and kept my eyes in my rear view mirror. They pulled off 2 seconds after me with their regular lights on and drove slower.
I was like "What!? Is this SUV seriously following me?"
I was close to home but my instincts told me not to go home. I drove past my street up the hill. The car was still behind me, I suddenly turned off to the left, I had to know if they were in fact following me. Sure enough they turned left... it was official, they were following me.
Who the heck would be following me and why? It's not a car that I recognize, no one knows where I live, so who is this? This is such a safe neighborhood.
I pulled over at a random spot alongside the street, they did the same thing. I was shaking, I grabbed my phone and called a friend and turned around and headed towards the police station. I figured let them follow me there.
I think they saw me grab my phone and they just laid low. I checked my rearview and didn't see any sign of them anymore. I decided it was okay to go home, I turned off my lights a few blocks form my house and kept my friend on the phone until I was safe in my house.
It was just so scary. Someone once told me, when you get that "feeling" that is your natural ability to detect danger and to listen to it. I'm glad I did!
I have on other example of trusting your instincts. So the 2nd guy I went out on a date with has been calling and texting every day since our date, which is nice. But when I listen to his conversations (I like to just listen to people, you can learn a lot just by listening--no need for a stack of interview questions or interrogations, just let a person talk and you will see who they are).
After each conversation, my eyebrow raises more and more. I get a very shady feeling about him and some things he says are a turn off. I then go back to our first phone call (the prescreen) and our date and replay some things that don't add up. I immediately get that "feeling"; which told me, this guy is just running lines from an amateur play book. I talked with a few friends who said, give him the benefit of the doubt; see how you feel after the second date. When I relayed things to my male cousin, he confirmed that the guy was full of BS and I was wading in it if I continued to talk to him. He said, men rely on women giving guys the benefit of the doubt and he told me not to be stupid. My cousin is a very blunt guy sometimes. He confirmed, doubt means no! My instincts told me this, I just wanted to get a male perspective. I cancelled our date for Friday. Instead I'm going to meet up with a women's group for tapas and sangria!
"Good instincts usually tell you what to do long before your head has figured it out" Burke
After my partying like a rock star (not) wine post on Saturday, I am now posting my running schedule.