What we mean by “trust your gut” isn’t so much to go against all evidence but to listen to your feelings and your intuition and use their subtle signals to help you decide. Don’t ignore your passion. Honor your passion. But honor your passion by talking to it and saying, Passion, you know I like you a lot, and you’re a lot of fun, but you’ve also gotten me in a lot of trouble over the years, and I’m not always going to just come running every time you call. You’re powerful and you’re fun and attractive but you’re also sometimes inconvenient and dangerous and scary and if I might add, at times, just a mite weird — like some of the ideas you come up with are just against the law. I recognize that without you, Passion, I would probably not be alive, nor would much dance happen. Still, you’re not my only guide to happiness.

—Cary Tennis