Note:  I'm caught up on a few things today.  So here's a re-print of an "oldie but a goodie".

Last night at bridge club I learnt a valuable lesson about how our actions are impacted by what other people think.

Let me explain...

The weekly competition was in full swing and I was sat at the bridge table with playing cards in hand.

My turn to bid.

(a “bid” is a bit like a “move” in chess)

I looked at my cards and I knew what bid I needed to make.

It wasn’t an obvious bid.  In fact it was rather funky.

It might raise a few eyebrows from the bridge cognoscenti.

And if the bid didn’t work out, I might look a bit silly.

I hesitated for a second, glanced to my left and eyed up my opponent.  A 75-year-old lady called Doris.

Doris is one of the sweetest ladies at bridge club.  

But at that moment she had fire in her eyes.  She was staring into my soul, compelling me to make a mistake.

As she took a sip of Malbec, the light reflected menacingly off her horn-rimmed glasses.  And a whiff of her Chanel N°5 hit my nostrils.

I gulped.

I could feel a bead of sweat trickling down the side of my face.

The pressure was becoming too much.

I reached for my bidding box…

Pulled out a bid…

And placed it on the table.

“Pass”.

I’d made the wrong move.

Damn you Doris!

Later that night I studied the hand.

I was right all along.  The bid I wanted to make had been the winning move.  

And I kicked myself.

At the bridge table earlier that evening, I knew it was the right play.  But I didn’t have the courage to follow my convictions.

After thinking it over, I realised why.

I didn’t want to look like an idiot in front of the room.  And Doris’s disapproving look was the final nail in the coffin.

And I think there’s an important lesson here about trusting your gut and not letting other people knock you off course.

Much of our lives is influenced by the views of others or worrying what other people will think.

So my suggestion?

Trust your gut and do what’s right for you.  Even if it means a few disapproving looks along the way.

With that being said I’m going to wrap this one up.

Hope you got a little something from this.

Enjoy your Thursday.

- Tom