Facts Vs Instincts

I recently happened to watch the biopic "Sully", a real life incident of Captain Chesley Sullenberger (played brilliantly by Tom Hanks) who became a national hero after safely landing a damaged plane on the Hudson and miraculously saving lives of all 155 on board back in January 2009.

The story though focuses on the subsequent investigation by the enquiry committee as to why the captain chose to land the plane on the Hudson River despite the options to land it in a nearby runway as the calculations indicated it to be during simulations of the same event by the latest technology.

One of the best lines from the movie which got etched in my mind was "I've flown millions during the 40 years of my career. But, I am going to be judged over 208 seconds".

While, I will leave you with these lines and not be a spoiler with further details on the movie (for those who are yet to watch it), I do recommend that you watch this movie which celebrates the strength of the human grit in the light of adversity and taking the call between facts and instincts for decision making.

However, this film had me thinking on how many times in life we faced such challenges, when facts points us to one direction but instincts points us to the opposite.

Do we always dare to take the call and follow our instincts or just go by the facts in fear of failure or criticism? As they say public memory is short, it judges one by their present situation and not by their glorious past.

Would we prefer our self to be called as an individual who took his/her chances and came out to be victorious or as the one who went by the facts and failed ( but gets the cushion of following the protocols)

Well, we would all prefer to play it safe, wouldn't we? But, some decisions leave a nagging impression in your mind, like a splinter of glass which reminds you everytime on how your instinct said, " That's not the right choice"

I have had similar moments in my life, where, I have chosen instinct over facts, and had my share of success and failures.
The point is, facts help, but not always. Following your instincts can give you the greatest of satisfaction in being the "Real You".

People might not support every decision we make ( with or without facts). But, sometimes, following your "heart" is better than following your "mind".

Take your chances, you wont regret it. If you win, you know were "right" and if you don't, you know atleast you "tried".

Life is short and we get only chance to live it.

Until next time...