“Go With Your Gut”

Ever wondered about where do instincts come from? I often do. In some instances, it’s a gut feeling… I mean literally… I actually get a feeling inside that feels a little like nerves. However, most of the time is a voice that comes in the form of a thought that is usually accompanied by this gut feeling. Personally, I believe that is how my spiritual guides communicate with me.

This is about a time when I was in Portugal and I was driving into Lisbon. This was an impromptu decision because I had not planned to spend time in Lisbon on this trip.

I do this kind of thing all the time…my itinerary is always changeable; and because of that, it’s usually full of surprises. I try to go where my gut tells me. The key word here is “try”… because this is harder than it sounds.

As I approach Lisbon I suddenly have a thought, it was actually a voice that said “I should return the rental car now”.

The car, a bright red Renault Captur, had been with me since Spain and I had rented it for 10 days. The plan was to return it at the airport in Lisbon right before my flight back home.

In this case, the voice was very insistent. The thought kept coming back, even though I was fighting it… mainly because I didn’t feel like going to the airport and dealing with it… and there was no incentive money wise to do it.

However, the thought was so insistent that I actually looked for an Avis in town to see if I could just return it there. I did find one but the address was inaccurate and at the end I got frustrated and decided against it.

I end up parking the car in a public parking garage a block away from the hotel. In other words… I overwrote my instincts.

This thing we call “instinct” has always fascinated me.

I believe firmly that if we were to follow our instincts every time, we would not make mistakes in life.

The problem is that we don’t do that. We let our monkey brain take over and justify a different course of action. For example…your instincts may tell you “You should not get married ”…but you do. Why? Uff..all sorts of justifications may come into play…but none will be about you. They will all have to do with other’s expectations or fear of repercussions… etc etc.

Well…we all know that misery will follow.

However, the instincts won’t shut up… even if you don’t listen to them for a while.

I enjoyed Lisbon for two days and my return flight was set for 4:30pm the next day. That day I get up, have breakfast, and I was planning on going to a nearby shopping area until time to leave for the airport which is no more than 20 minutes away. I had plenty of time. However, the voice in my head said “I should leave now”… and it was insistent. But I begin fighting it …“it is too early…I would get there almost five hours before my flight…blah blah”

…But this time the gut instinct was at full throttle so I followed it and decided to go then and there.

I walked to the parking garage and the car is there right where I left it two days before…and my second luggage was still inside. Yes… I was not traveling light this time.🙄

But when I try to unlock it… the electronic key wouldn’t work. Actually…the car seemed dead to me. I couldn’t believe it!

My first thought was “Thank God that I came early”.

My second thought, “Do not panic…think logically…calm down”.

My third thought, “It’s probably the key battery… and there should be a bypass key inside somewhere”…

wrong… I replaced the battery…and nothing…and there was no physical key to be found! I couldn’t open the car therefore I couldn’t get my stuff out or open the hood to give the battery a jump. It was time to call Avis.

Now, you would think that would have been easy…but nope. You see since I had picked up the car in Spain…that complicated matters. Avis Portugal wanted me to call Avis Spain so that Avis Spain would give them permission to send help… anyways… you can guess that this situation would take time and a lot of patience to resolve.

It took two hours. At the end, I made it to the airport with just enough time to return the problem car, go through the airport check-in hell, and catch my flight.

As I’m sitting in my seat on the TAP Airlines’s flight to Miami, I think…“I should have listened to the insistent voice that told me to return the car when I was arriving in Lisbon. As usual, it’s a mistake not to follow my instincts”.

I then thanked my angels for trying to warn me.

I thanked them for insisting I go early to get the car.

I thanked them for the calm and clarity of thought they provided me with, and for the angels they sent to help me along the way.

But most of all, I thanked them because no one was sitting next to me in the plane!! 😊 It goes to show…all’s well that ends well.