Don’t-

 Daughters,

“Don’t do what you know on a gut level to be the wrong thing to do. Don’t stay when you know you should go or go when you know you should stay. Don’t fight when you should hold steady or hold steady when you should fight. Don’t focus on the short-term fun instead of the long-term fallout. Don’t surrender all your joy for an idea you used to have about yourself that isn’t true anymore. Don’t seek joy at all costs. I know it’s hard to know what to do when you have a conflicting set of emotions and desires, but it’s not as hard as we pretend it is. Saying it’s hard is ultimately a justification to do whatever seems like the easiest thing to do- have the affair, stay at that horrible job, end a friendship over a slight, keep loving someone who treats you terribly. I don’t think there’s a single dumb-a** thing I’ve done in my adult life that I didn’t know was a dumb-a** thing to do while I was doing it. Even when I justified it to myself- as I did every damn time- the truest part of me knew I was doing the wrong thing. Always. As the years pass, I’m learning how to better trust my gut and not do the wrong thing, but every so often I get a harsh reminder that I’ve still got work to do.” 

-Cheryl Strayed 

There isn’t a whole lot that I need to or could add to this for that matter. But I will say, that my very best gut instinct was when I decided to give your dad a chance romantically. We don’t make sense on paper still, but my gut was so loudly telling me then to go against the grain and try. Best decision. Ever. 

Lots of times it is those types of gut instincts. You know the one’s that are telling you don’t- in Cheryl’s case, and the ones that told me- do. Listen, 

Mom