Have you ever had a gut feeling when you meet someone that
something is ‘off’? That you should not trust that person? No
matter how nice he or she appears to be? But because you had no
‘evidence’ of what it was, you went ahead and agreed to help
them against your better judgment. In case you’re one of
the lucky ones that has never experienced what I am talking about,
let me set the scene.
In my second year university I was sharing my apartment with a
close friend of my brother that I had know for a few years. One
evening, I came home and he had a friend camping in our
living-room. When I asked Peter who was this guy, he told me that
he had met him the previous day at a party and that he was from
Miami. When I asked him why this guy was camping in our
living-room he told me that the people that he came with had
left him and he had no money and no place to stay.
At that very moment, I had a sinking feeling in my gut that
this guy should not be trusted, and that I should ask Peter to
find somewhere else for this guy to stay. I looked at him and he
looked so lost and sad, that I felt pity for him. So instead of asking
Peter to get rid of him. I hoped for the best and I allowed him
to stay with us.
He spent close to three months in our place. Since he was a
barber, Peter put an ad in the university newspaper and Alex
(the guys name) a good clientele. He said that as soon as he
had enough money he would buy a plane ticket and he would
return to Miami.
Alex was a great roommate. When I came from school supper was
ready, the place was clean, you could not ask for more. He was
nice, understanding, and every time he cut a clients hair he
would contribute to the groceries. After a while I let my guard
down, since there was no reason at all to be concerned. Up to
that day my gut feeling was always right. I began to doubt the
power of my gut feeling.
One Tuesday afternoon, I came home earlier than usual. When I
came to open the door to my surprise the door was opened. I
called Alex, no answer. I came in, looked around, everything
appeared the same. So I did not think anything of it.
Around seven in the evening, Peter called to talk to Alex.
I told him that when I came home the apartment door was
opened and Alex was not there. H asked me if anything was
missing? I told him I did not notice anything unusual. He asked
me to check his bedroom. When I came in there, the closet was
opened and it was empty. Alex took everything in the bedroom
besides the sheets. I immediately ran to my bedroom to discover
that my jewelery box was also gone.
Peter came home right away and we called the police.
Unfortunately for us it was too late. Peter knew nothing about
Alex. He could not even give the police a surname. The police
told us that we are very lucky that what we lost was replaceable,
because the guy could have been a sicko and we could have
lost our lives.
Moral of the story: when your spiritual self uses your gut
feeling to warn you of danger or tries to prevent you from
making a big mistake, honor that sinking feeling in your stomach. Don’t
use justification to ignore it, because if you do, it could probably
cost you your life.
