Our intuition plays a crucially important role whenever there's an action involved that requires some serious decision making. We always hear this particular phrase that encourages us to go with our guts and trust our feelings whenever we're about to make a meaningful conclusion that will somehow affect our lives.
The beloved technology genius, Steve Jobs, once said a very thought-provoking quote: "have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary". Sadly, it's true, most of us are terrified of listening to ourselves, as we fear that it might lead us to some sort of failure – however, wouldn't it be healthier to know that you can fully trust yourself? Who knows, maybe following your instincts could someday save your life.
For instance, someone curiously asked on one of Reddit's communities to share a situation in which one's gut feeling miraculously happened to save them from troubles. The question received over 13K upvotes and 4.2K comments, where people shared their frightening yet gripping stories. Do you have similar stories to tell?
More info: Reddit
#1
Worked as a Shot Girl at a pub. One night I rejected someone who attempted to get my number. Not unusual and he didn't seem that bothered. The whole exchange wasn't strange to me. In the early hours after the bar closed I went to leave through the back door into the car park like usual when I saw the sensor light outside was on. Someone was stood just outside the door. I felt uneasy so went out the front and asked one of the bouncers to walk me round the back to my car. As we rounded the corner we spotted this guy lurking outside the door holding his belt like a makeshift garotte. When he saw us he started screaming that I was a f**king b**ch and I should die. He scampered off into the road and never came back.
Image credits: Goldfishguru
#2
I was driving on the road one night and I saw a car in the middle of the road with two people lying on the ground. My gut feeling was that something is suspicious here and I decided to act on it by driving past the car and the two people.I stop to take my phone out and call the police and I look at my rearview mirror to see the two people lying on the road stand up with five other people coming out of the bushes.
Image credits: Naweezy
#3
At age 5 I was almost abducted by strangers at the park who had a bunch of toys on a blanket and tried to lure me into their motor home. I looked back to my dad, who was talking to his friend maybe 100 yards away, I got a “tummy ache” when one of them tried to coax me by reaching for my arm to lead me away, and I screamed and ran like hell back to my dad. Years later I found out those same people had abducted other kids who weren’t so lucky. Never ignored a gut feeling since.
Image credits: amtm032
#4
I woke up at 3am once sitting upright in bed. I felt on alert and my heart raced when I saw that my cat was on alert too, wide awake by my feet with his ears perked up. But I didn’t see or hear anything weird. Something didn’t feel right and I couldn’t relax. So I got up and went to the kitchen. Turned on some lights and ate food even though I wasn’t that hungry. Eventually went back to bed.We discovered the next morning that someone had stopped while in the process of using some kind of tool to silently cut a big hole in the glass window in the living room. They were trying to break in. Right next to the bedroom. I think the lights I turned on scared them away.
to add that we had 3 long years of issues with our neighbors. They repeatedly came into our property and were angry that we put up a 9 foot fence to keep them out. This attempted break in happened right after the fence went up and 2 days before they all moved out. Glad those pieces of s**t are long gone.
Image credits: TheBigSqueak ·
#5
I am a petite woman, and was 19 at the time. Had a late shift that ended at 10pm. Hit the grocery before my walk home (about 10 blocks). I’ve got arms full of groceries and notice a car drive past me in the opposite direction. Heard it pull a U-turn behind me and park. I tell myself, ‘probably just getting home from work too’, but then i hear foot steps behind me. I turn around and its a man in his 30s, I’d guess. He doesn’t say anything, but stops walking when i stopped walking. I keep walking, bit faster now and I can hear him speed up too. I turn around again and say, ‘hey man, whatsup?’. He says nothing. I turn around and keep walking, almost at a mini-jog pace and I hear him speed up too. I was about 4 blocks away from home. The adrenaline kicked in, I dropped my bags and booked it. Made it home, told my boyfriend what was happening. As he goes outside to find the guy, dude drives by in his car. Right past my house. We call the cops, give them a description and the operator tells us they’ve had other calls about the same guy. Really hoping he never actually caught someone. Really hoping his creepy a** wound up in jail. Really happy I listened to my gut.
Image credits: Stuwe
#6
My daughter was a year and a half at the time. She had a cold, but bedtime went off without a hitch. I woke up in the middle of the night that night, really uncomfortable and anxious. Something was off and I couldn’t put my finger on it. I got up, had a midnight snack, tried to calm my nerves. I decided to check on my kids, who shared a room, before trying to go back to sleep.I get in there and immediately I hear a light sound coming from her crib—wheezing. It was so quiet, there was no way to hear it outside of the room. I got her up and saw that her breathing was fast and labored. I took her to the hospital, where she ended up with an overnight stay, oxygen, and nebulizer treatments because her oxygen had dipped. She was diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease due to the cold (which triggered the asthma attack).
Image credits: Thr33wolfmoon
#7
I'm a firefighter. We got called out to a tree fire started by fallen power lines. We pull up in the truck and I'm trusting that my driver and crew leader are doing their job and have good situational awareness.We get out of the truck and we've parked next to a set of power lines (not fallen). It's a very windy night and I can see the lines swinging so I voice my concerns to my crew leader who says it'll be fine.
We get out hose out (risk of the tree fire catching onto a house outweighing potential risk of arcing plus the line disconnected when it fell) and I'm on the branch ready to start putting it out with 2 others near me when I get a chill. I look up see the lines swinging violently and yell "everyone f**king move". As the 3 of us sprint and dive out of the way we hear a thwip and crack and sure enough the line we were under came loose and stayed connected to the power pole. If I hadn't got that chill chances are we would have had 3 fried firies.
Image credits: DYESMOD
#8
Not me but when my mum was a teenager on 18th November 1987, she was going to London to visit a friend. It was around 7:20 pm and she decided she was going to take a taxi instead of going by tube because it didn't feel right (King's cross tube station). Ten minutes later the whole station caught on fire and 30 out of the 40 people passed away. If she had decided to take the tube she would likely have passed away.
Image credits: clumsydogsdance
#9
I stood up and had a quick Matrix like wave (just like how the walls flex in the move). I turned to the closest person and asked for a ride to the emergency room. Honestly, it felt like a little head rush or light headedness that I've had a hudred times before. If I would have brushed it off as such, I would pass away. My lungs were at 30% capacity as I was drowning from fluids and had absolutely no other symptoms than the brief lightheaded feeling. Also, I had been feeling a bit down and hadn't eaten. The more I analyzed the situation I have no idea why I asked a stranger for a ride to the hospital.
Image credits: leadpainter
#10
I was in Turkey for vacation when I was about 7 or 8 years old and I made friends with some other tourists but also some locals, all around the age range of 8-16. These two local guys were about 16, and at one point during the late afternoon they asked if I wanted to go with them to go-kart outside of the hotel area, and I agreed. Approximately 30 seconds of walking along with them, I got the most chilling feeling I've ever had in my life. All the hairs on my skin rose up and I had this super uneasy feeling deep in my gut. It actually felt like some supernatural force was beckoning me to dip. I turned on my heels and sprinted so fast to get back to the hotel. I didn't even look back. When I returned, my mother asked where I had been. I told her I was taking a rough s**t.Oddly enough, I was quite fond of those guys before this happened. But, thinking about this in retrospect, why would two local 16-year-olds have any genuine interest in go-karting with a young 8-year-old tourist? I feel like I may have dodged a bullet. We may never know.
Image credits: [deleted]
#11
Was hiking by myself (real smart). I get this feeling that something wasn't right, but I normally act on that feeling. That day however, I ignored it. Went to a lookout, turned around and headed back. About the same place as I got the feeling I noticed cougar tracks cross mine in the snow. They followed mine for a few meters and then went to a bit of shrub that overlooked both where I was now, and the lookout. I immediately left and avoided going anywhere near something that would give a cougar cover. Occasionally behind me I would notice a small rustle in the bushes and trees or some snow falling off a disturbed branch.
Image credits: chrisw1984
#12
Put a piece of furniture up for sale on Craigslist. Nothing fancy or crazy expensive, just a used bike. Guy emailed and said "I got 140 for it today." And I got the thing new for 160, so I was psyched. Said, ok, and gave him a general address (not exact). Didn't hear from him all day, which isn't weird with Craigslist...but something felt weird so I googled his name (from his email) and it turns out he's been arrested several times for home burglary and robbery. Blocked him and gave the bike to friend for free.
Image credits: antilockbrakesystem
#13
The day I had my son. I was 34 weeks and was feeling great but something felt different. I ended up going to the ER and having an Emergency C section. I was told that if I hadn’t listened to my gut, my son most likely wouldn’t have survived and I probably wouldn’t have either. But here we are, healthy and happy!
Image credits: staciafisch
#14
I live in Southern California and growing up living by the beach I would go surfing a lot. Almost every day during the summer with my buddies. One day I wanted to go but no one else could go so I decided it was fine and i would go by myself. Not a huge deal I’ve gone surfing alone in the past and there are always other people in the line up to hang around. Anyway, I get to the beach and when I paddle out I noticed there wasn’t anyone out yet. “More waves for me”, I thought, but after a while something just felt... off. I don’t really know how to explain it but it was a very, very eerie feeling as if I was being watched. I don’t think I’ve ever felt such an acute feeling like that before or since then but I just listened to my gut feeling and paddled in and went home. The next morning a swimmer passed away at that exact beach from a great white shark attack. I haven’t been surfing since and that was 10 years ago.
Image credits: kkkilla
#15
I has just gone out to lunch with my mom and we were walking across the parking lot to our car.I don't even remember grabbing her arm, but I did, and yanked her backward (I was less than half her size, as I was quite young at the time).
A car suddenly pulled out of a parking spot at lightning speed, right to where she was standing.
I ended up leaving nail marks on her arm and one of her knees twisted, but at least she didn't get hit.
Image credits: why_did_i_get_reddit
#16
I was going to go camping in Western Maine.I was on a small mountain and the weather just felt off. I had just pitched my tent to but I had a feeling I wasn't going to enjoy the night so I packed up, hiked out, and went home.
Next day I find out a tornado ripped through the area I was in.
Next week I go out to find the path of destruction it left went right through where my campsite was.
Image credits: WalkerBRiley
#17
When I was about 20, many years ago, I had taken up the sport of skydiving. I was scheduled to make a jump at a small town about 60 miles from the major city in which I lived. I got on my motorcycle to make the trip but my gut feeling was I shouldn't do this today. After driving a block, I turned around and went home. I didn't bother to call the jump master and tell him I wouldn't be there. The next time I was there to make a jump he asked me about that day, why I never showed up. I told him about being on the road and having this really queasy feeling about it. He said "yeah, when you get that feeling you always need to obey it." No one ever mocked me for being chicken. Who knows if there was a motorcycle accident waiting for me or a bad jump with a chute that wouldn't open? But I'm 62 now and lived to tell this story!
Image credits: CitizenMage
#18
Had a friend who said we should go to this party he was invited to by a classmate of his. We ended driving out to it, we noticed the neighborhood was not to pleasant and sketchy. We saw that house had some lights on in backyard but kind of quiet for a party.I decided that we should not go since something felt really off. Friend ended finding the classmate that invited him got robbed and threatened when he went to party. It ended up being a fake party.
Image credits: My_Names_Jefff
#19
I was walking on a hiking trail, and got that being watched feeling. this was in the woods, no one was around, and I just decided to be safe rather than sorry. I turned around and walked back out to the trailhead and went hone. on the news that night I saw a mountain lion had been hunting there and attempted to attack another hiker later that day.
Image credits: CDeats
#20
Was in Pennsylvania for Memorial Day weekend camping. Everyone wants to go to get a few things left out. I felt like something was off so i stayed back in my hammock. I was the only one who stayed, and a drunk driver ended up hitting the car all my friends were in.
Image credits: ryanseecrestt
#21
When I was little I had gotten sick. I get sick often because I have a weak immune system, so whenever my mom asks me if I want to go to the doctor I always say no, and just take medicine/rest. This time around was different, it felt worse than usual so I asked my mom to take me to the doctor. When we got there the doctors took my temperature, after that they put me in a room took off my clothes and packed me down in ice from head to toe. They said if my fever had gotten even just a little bit higher my brain would have fried.
Image credits: rat_bandit
#22
A couple years ago I was walking to my car after a baseball game. A guy came up to me and asked me if I could lend him any money for a taxi. Not having any cash on me I politely declined. He told me there was an ATM nearby and being the naive guy I am, I said okay. As I started to walk with him, I got this feeling that I needed to get out. Now. It wasn't just an instinct, it felt urgent that if I didn't just go to my car something would happen. So I acted like I got a an emergency text, made an excuse and ran away. A week later I saw a man who looked very similar to him on the news for robbing somebody at gun point in that general area I was in. I don't know 100 percent if it was the same guy, but that feeling I got told me it was.
Image credits: BurghFinsFan
#23
I applied for a job in a company that did "personal finance advice" or something like that. I am a student so I basically applied there to be a secretary. The thing that was odd is that they were offering me a lot of money, and flexible hours so I was kinda confused. They also kept telling me how talented and special I am, and that I should learn some economics/finance things so I can be an advisor as well.On the second interview it turned out that they were a huge pyramid scheme, and in order to get paid I had to get at least 3 of my family members/friends into using their "service".
Image credits: milly_mathe
#24
Was riding my motorcycle with a friend on the back. We were going down a country road behind a truck hauling a bunch of old car tires when all of a sudden I decided we shouldn't be there, so I slowed way down to let the truck go ahead of us. Just as I did one of the tires fell off the truck and landed right where we would have been.
Image credits: deadeyeAZ
#25
On holiday when I was younger, my parents told me that I was finally old enough that I didn't have to share a bedroom with my brother, and could have my own room downstairs if I wanted. Got a gut feeling that I shouldn't and ended up rooming with my bro.Within a day or so, burglars broke into all the houses in the complex, and were using what would have been my room as a safe-point to loot through all the stuff they'd stolen. Don't know what would have happened if they walked into a room with an 8 year old girl alone, asleep.
Image credits: CheapCurrency
#26
I was like 5 or 6 when my mum and sisters wanted to go for a drive out of town. I cried and cried because I just didn't want to go with them for some reason, and decided to go with my other sister in her car. Turns out, my mum and other sisters ended up crashing, and they said "if you were in the car, you would've had to sit in the middle, and you would've passed away." Luckily my fam was okay though... But I sure did feel really cool after that.
Image credits: SnowLeopard000
#27
Last week my mirrored wardrobe door had half broken off and was hanging on by one hinge. I had slept a few nights opposite this door and thought nothing of it. One night I was struggling to get to sleep and couldn’t get the image of this huge mirrored door falling and the glass shattering and hurting me. I get up out of bed to check just how secure this hinge is and before I could touch it the whole door falls off in front of me and literally into my hands. If I had ignored those feelings I absolutely believe that glass would have shattered and badly injured me.
Image credits: onmylunchbreak-
#28
I had something like this one time in elementary school when we had a recess. It was pretty average and we left at the normal time but it just felt very off to me, but because I was 8 and didn't have common sense yet, I brushed the feeling off. Turns out that there was literally a guy that had been scoping out the playground for kids to lure to him in a stereotypical large white van.
Image credits: Marshallsussmanite
#29
Pulling over before engine seized on icy road, we were in a s**tbox and I knew the engine was going out so the wheels would've stopped sending us into a tree
Image credits: YaBoiBigmac
#30
My ex-gf... I dated her while she was separated and going through a divorce (she had 2 kids, not mine). We broke up, she dated another guy, got married and pregnant within 6 months. They are now going through a divorce... while she is dating a new guyBullet dodged.
Image credits: Obskure22
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