Okay, so I use this one, but I actually mean the opposite. DO. DO judge a book by its cover (and with that advice, my book sales plummeted – ha-ha – hopefully not).
Now, hear me out on this. I don’t mean in everything. What I do mean is, trust your gut. When it comes to your safety, and the safety of those you love, go with your instincts. The same instinct you rely on to choose that beautifully displayed novel from the bookshelf can be used for many things. Will these instincts sometimes lead you astray? Absolutely (refer to my blog entry on the broken clock as an example). But sometimes those instincts and gut feelings can be a life-saver (and I mean that in the most literal sense).
Say your daughter comes home from school. She’s all excited about a party she was invited to. You pump her for more information, and although everything sounds okay, something is holding you back. You want to tell her no. Your instinct says to tell her no. Do you go with this? Or, not wanting to be the “bad guy,” do you relent and let her go to the party? For me, I go with my gut. I will take the safety of my kids over my fear of overreacting any day of the week.
Don’t have kids? How about another scenario. You hear the local shelter is in desperate need of clothing. You rummage through your closet and manage to fill a hefty garbage bag full of clothes. Proud of your charitableness, you head to the shelter to drop off the clothing. Alone. When you arrive, there are several people gathered outside the shelter, but there isn’t a worker in sight. The small group huddled on the sidewalk is wearing clothing that is dirty and tattered. This pulls at your heartstrings, but you also notice that one of the individuals is staring at you in a way that makes you uncomfortable.
Your gut is telling you that you might be in danger. The person may have a weapon. They may be desperate for food or money. But your nice, charitable side is telling you that you shouldn’t rush to conclusions and that your subconscious biases are clouding your judgement. Do you get out of the car and head into the building? Or do you come back later when there is a worker present for drop-off? I’ll throw out a few clichés that run through my head during this scenario: “better to be safe than sorry,” AND “nice guys finish last.” Don’t concern yourself with being polite at the expense of your own safety. If you don’t feel safe in a situation, even if it’s just a nagging feeling, GET OUT. Live to be charitable another day.