Trust your gut or die [+ Audio]

The last time I got into a fist-fight was around the age of fourteen, when my prefrontal cortex wasn’t yet fully developed. Years later, when emotions didn’t totally rule my world, I got punched in the face at a nightclub. Instead of punching back, I walked away. 

Today my ability to override strong emotions prevents me from completely losing my shit. I am not the same person as my teenage self, and I’m definitely not like these tussling kangaroos. (Or, at least that’s what I tell myself.)

At times the pendulum swings all the way to the other side. Instead of listening to emotions, we push them down and let our brains lead the show. We discount our gut feelings, natural intuition and take a more “informed” approach. Show me the data, Stacy! You’re not making any sense! 

But being carried away by thoughts is just as bad as being carried away by emotions. Or worse. 

In Gavin de Becker’s book The Gift of Fear (which everyone should read, especially my female readers), he talks about the danger of ignoring our hunches. When the Unabomber sent dozens of packages with makeshift bombs, there were many reports of people receiving packages and saying something like, “Wow, this package looks pretty sketchy, it’s probably a bomb.” And they would open it anyway.¹