Listen to your gut

Going with your gut is bypassing logic and trusting your instincts, without knowing why. Logic can assist us in looking forward and planning or in reviewing the past, but when you need information in an instant your instincts give you the best guide for making decisions.

Today I was out fat biking on local forest preserve trails with Mitch and a friend. On our second loop we came across a couple standing on the side of the trail with their bikes laying on the ground. The body language between them made me uneasy. She looked extremely upset and he had a hold of her arm. My gut said something wasn't right. Logic said 'don't stop by yourself it could be dangerous.' I was in the back of the group and they wouldn't know immediately that I stopped.

When we got to a trail split I asked the others about what we just saw. My friend said she did call out "is everything okay?" and the man responded "yes". But nothing from the woman. I told them I didn't feel we should leave without going back and hearing from her that she was okay. The fact that she looked in distress and he had his hand grabbing her arm just didn't sit well with me.

So we retraced the trail back to them. They were still standing where we left them. The woman still looking very upset and you could see she was physically shaking. I directed my question directly to her and asked if she was okay. She nodded. Not convinced we continued to ask questions and make sure she was not in harms way. Turned out she fell on the bike for the second time and was very shaken up.

Physically she just had a little road rash but mentally she was really shaken. After chatting with them we were convinced she was safe and went on our way.

I have a healthy respect for going with my gut and trusting my instincts. There's a difference between trusting your instincts and going out of your comfort zone. Instincts warn you something isn't right, while pushing outside your comfort zone isn't necessarily going to harm you. More often then not it helps you grow.

Today I could not have gone home without making sure this woman was okay. Especially with recent reports of women being grabbed on a local forest preserve trail.

Enjoy the ride.
Sheri