Guard Up! When Something Feels Wrong, Leave: The Power of Trusting Your Gut
Grand Master Evan R. Henry shares a frightening encounter at a convenience store and explains why trusting your instincts, recognizing warning signs and acting quickly can help keep you safe.
The Night at the 7-Eleven
Let me tell you a story about a night at a 7-Eleven.
I was in the store with a few friends picking up whatever we needed. I looked up and saw a man walk in. I don't remember his face. I don't remember what he was wearing. What I remember is what my body did the second I saw him. Everything in me said we have to leave. Right now. I looked at the cashier behind the counter. He was already looking at me. And he gave me a signal to get out.
That was all the confirmation I needed. My gut had already told me what was coming. He had just confirmed it. I turned to my friends and told them, quietly and quickly, to put whatever they were holding on the nearest shelf and walk out. Three of them got it right away and moved. The fourth one didn't understand what I was doing. So I took the items right out of his hand, put them on the shelf myself, and told him we have to go now. Family emergency.
He got in the car.
The next thing I saw was three police cars pulling into that parking lot with their lights on. I don't know exactly what went down inside that store after we left. I know what almost happened to me and my friends.
My gut and that cashier’s face are the reason we drove home that night.
Your Gut Is Trying to Save Your Life
That feeling I had walking into the 7-Eleven was not paranoia. It was not random. It was not made up in my head. Your gut is older than your mind. Your body reads a room, a face, a doorway, a stranger, a parking lot, and puts the pieces together faster than your thinking brain ever will. It is the part of you that has kept human beings alive for thousands of years. When it fires, it fires for a reason. You may not know the reason in that moment. You may never know the reason. That is not the point. The point is that your body just told you something is wrong.
Listen to it.
My Mother and Father Taught Me This
I did not learn to trust my gut on my own. My mother, Yolanda D. Henry, and my father, Sergeant First Class Edwin R. Henry, United States Army, both taught me to listen when my body was telling me something. Both of them, in their own way, drilled the same lesson into me. When your gut talks, listen. I have carried that into every room I have walked into since.
Evan Henry
The Rule
When people ask me what to teach their kids and grandkids about self-defense, this is one of the first things I tell them.
Trust your instincts. If they tell you to leave, leave. If they tell you to stay home, stay home.
That is not superstition. That is not being paranoid. That is training your family to respect the oldest warning system God gave the human body. If a place feels wrong, you leave. You do not finish your meal. You do not wait for your friend. You do not stop to explain yourself to the person you are with. You leave, and you sort it out on the sidewalk.
When You Don't Listen
I have listened to that voice more times than I can count. I have also seen what happens when people don't listen. When I was in college, I had a bad feeling about driving up to a Walmart in Bangor, Maine one day. I told my college colleagues not to go. Something in me said stay home.
They went anyway. A storm hit while they were up there. It got so bad they were stuck at that Walmart until morning. That story ends with them coming home safe. Other stories don't. Your gut does not only warn you about people. It warns you about weather. About roads. About decisions. About rooms you are about to walk into and cars you are about to get in. When it fires, it does not matter what it is warning you about. What matters is that you listen.
Evan Henry
Reflection
When was the last time your body told you something was wrong, and you talked yourself out of listening? This week, when it talks again, listen.
Guard up!
For Speaking, Seminars, or Self-Defense Training Contact:
Grand Master Evan R. Henry
Founder, New Creation Taekwondo • Senior Pastor, Infinite Hope Global
Bachelor's Degree in Pastoral Leadership, Newburgh Theological Seminary
Follow @TheGrandMasterPastor on TikTok
Business: (848) 217-2202
Thanks for reading the whole story!
At Atlantic City Focus, we're committed to providing a platform where the diverse voices of our community can be heard, respected, and celebrated. As an independent online news platform, we rely on a unique mix of affordable advertising and the support of readers like you to continue delivering quality, community journalism that matters. Please support the businesses and organizations that support us by clicking on their ads. And by making a tax deductible donation today, you become a catalyst for change helping to amplify the authentic voices that might otherwise go unheard. And every contribution is greatly appreciated. Join us in making a difference—one uplifting story at a time!
The Unity & Heritage Exhibition is on display until December at the African American Heritage Museum Of Southern New Jersey.
