Sat out to explore an unfamiliar park in the morning, walking on the path along the lake, happy to see families already setting up food and drinks for the day. I felt safe until I saw a guy in a dark tracksuit walking toward me then settled at a picnic bench.

He said hi when I walked by, I replied then walked on like I knew where I was going. For some reason, I told myself to be aware of my surrounding. Maybe because he didn’t look like someone who needs a break even though he did have a protruding mid-section.

Not knowing the path and unwilling to head back his way, I picked a trail that MIGHT lead me to the sand dune where a few groups of men where fishing. The trail has many sharp turns so my only defense was to speed up and listen for his movements, not sure if he was indeed following me.

Lucky for me, I made it out to those people who were fishing in a few. I watched the old man closes to me clean his fish. After a while, we started chatting. A few words into the conversation, the tracksuit guy showed up on the sand dune.

Again, he didn’t look like he was at the park to exercise or enjoy the site. Besides, he was back tracking by coming my way. He didn’t get out near all of us, just hang around the trail head, all the while looking my way.

I informed the nice old gentleman that I was being followed. We carried on the conversation until the tracksuit guy gave up and left.

Although my intuition only whispered, not screamed, I listened and escaped the situation unharmed. And by the grace of the divine, someone friendly and chatty was out there.

Still, if I haven’t learned to trust my instinct, I’d be wondering about my reaction and dismissed it instead. Then, who knows, I don’t even want to go there…

So today’s tip for daily life is practice listening to your intuition now so you’ll be able to hear it when you need it.