I don’t remember deciding to stop trusting my instincts. It feels like something that happened slowly, without asking permission. At some point, instinct stopped feeling reliable. It felt impulsive. Reckless. Something I needed to verify before acting on.
So, I started thinking things through and then thinking them through again. What used to be quiet knowing became a loop. What feels right? What’s smartest? What’s safest? What will cause the least damage? I tell myself I’m being careful. Responsible. Thorough. But sometimes it feels more like fear wearing the clothes of logic.
I can trace it back to moments when instinct led somewhere painful. When listening to myself had consequences I didn’t see coming. When being certain didn’t protect me the way I thought it would. So, I adapted. I learned to hesitate. To analyze. To wait for a certainty that never actually arrives.
I don’t think overthinking replaced instinct because instinct failed me. I think it stepped in when trusting myself stopped feeling safe. If you’ve noticed that shift too, it doesn’t mean your intuition is gone. It might just mean it learned to go quiet for a while.