Just the facts ma’am, with a little heart thrown in

Do you have to have hard-cold facts to believe something, or do you just know with your heart?

Both. Depending on the subject or situation.

l’m a pretty good judge of character, and can usually determine whether or not I like someone the first time I meet them. I generally don’t know any facts about them, and base my opinions solely on the feelings, or vibe, I get upon that first meeting, and I’m usually right.  Of course, I don’t always heed those first feelings, and later learn facts that reinforce my original beliefs, and then I have to go through the inconvenience of righting my wrongs. Case in point is my first marriage. I knew getting married to my ex was a huge mistake, but I did it anyway. Call it woman’s intuition, gut instinct, whatever. All my warning bells told me it was the wrong thing to do, but I didn’t listen. After gathering facts, 13 years of research, I knew I had done a very stupid thing, and beat myself up for not listening to my instincts when I had the chance.  So, I had to go through the inconvenience of righting my wrong and got a divorce. Largely because of that huge lapse in judgement, I always trust my instincts now.

Of course, there times when facts are necessary.  I spent many, many years working in an industry where facts were the lifeblood of our daily work. I cyan’t do the job I have now properly without knowing all the facts about situations.

Anyone can believe in something if presented with the facts, but I’ve discovered that not everyone believes with their heart.