It took me ‘a while’ to trust my gut (instincts, if you will). Everything in our social conditioning from education to social gatherings infused me with the idea that everyone else’s opinions were more important, more ‘reasoned’, more real than my own. Therefore, I should listen to them and not my own gut.

It took a few years of martial arts training, plus studying philosophies, eastern and western, to finally get to the point where I was willing to trust my own gut rather than the guts or reasons of others…

While logic and reason have their uses, they’re not always reliable. Therefore, in existential situations (or, for that matter, anything really important), I ALWAYS listen to ‘my gut’ first. I can always add rationalizations later, if needed…; -)~

–LE

PS: It’s worth considering that logic and reason are only a few thousand years old, while instincts (our guts) have served our species well for more than 100,000 years, at least, and guided our evolution. I often think that modern society is too often misguided by misperceptions, both intentional and unintentional. While logic and reason are used to mislead and control … all too often… (IMHO)