THE INNER THOUGHTS

 

Trust the instinct to the end, though you can render no reason - Ralph Waldo Emerson

2018, after my compulsory national youth service; I returned to the East to start my law practice. Fast forward to December 2019, I got a direct message on my old Facebook account from a young man, asking me to be his attorney; to manage his late father’s estate in Enugu. 

I gave him my mobile number and, he called immediately. He informed me, that his father left an estate that his paternal uncle was trying to take away from him, not only that, but the tenants were paying his so-called uncle their rent.   

 I asked him if his father left a will, and he said ‘No’ then I advised him that a letter of administration should be applied for immediately so that he could be an administrator of his late father’s estate. He accepted that we start the letter of administration process immediately. 

When I told him my professional charges, he agreed to pay me. Two days later, he called me and asked if I could meet him in a motel to give me the documents about his father’s estate and his late father's death certificate. I asked him to come to my office with those documents, he started giving me some excuses that he could not come out to the public because of his uncle (this would have been the red flag but, as a fresh lawyer I wanted to start my first property management on time) 

I told him politely, that I could not come to a motel because it was against my professional conduct. He said “okay” and that we should meet up in a restaurant which I accepted. We met for the first time in a restaurant, and he brought those documents that he mentioned earlier, to my surprise the documents were not making sense and it was not adding up. I confronted him with some questions and his answers were not accurate ( second flag 🚩). 

I told him that the documents cannot do anything for him. A week later, he called again that I needed to see the property and also to inform the tenants that they should stop paying his uncle. I felt pity for the poor man. Felt his uncle was maltreating him because he was the only child and an orphan. 

I told my dad about my first property management and my first meeting with the tenants, so my dad told me to meet him in his office so he could drive me to the property. By 4 pm I went to my dad’s firm, and I noticed they were having the end of the year party 🥳. I waited for him for an hour because I scheduled my meeting with the tenants for 6 pm, then it was 5.50 pm my dad was not ready to leave the party. I told him “Dad I will order a ride to the place because, you are still enjoying your party”, with that statement my dad met his partner and informed him that he was leaving early because he had another appointment. 

Then we started the journey, by then I started communicating with the man for directions and his directions took us to the outskirts of Enugu(mind you he thought I was coming alone). We got to a point where my dad could not take it anymore, he reversed the car and told me to inform the man that we were no longer interested. When the man heard “we” he asked me if "I was alone" and I said "No", he declined my call and that was when my dad told me “Chiqueen ( as he always calls me) "God has saved you....”

According to Nwafor (2018:2) in his article titled “Power of the instincts,” he stated, “Significantly we can say an instinct is a gift bestowed on us by our creator which is above any level of experience that we may acquire during our lives, this enables us to make quick and important decisions which mostly turns out correctly”. I am strongly inclined to this belief, in my opinion, I believe, instincts are our guidance here in this world; given to us to explore our environments. Abetter usage of our instincts will bring better results to our being.

In this particular instance, I had so many thoughts about the man but, due to peer pressure from my colleagues in the legal field who were doing well in the property management field, I wanted to start mine on time. This notion made me foolishly ignore my instincts and it would have cost me my life.

Only God knows what would have become of me if I had gone to the place scheduled for the proposed meeting alone, hmmm!!! it would be a disaster, trust me.

My dearies believe in your instincts and never ignore your guts, because they are real. 

WHAT ARE YOUR INNER THOUGHTS TELLING YOU?

Disclaimer: Any view or opinions represented in this blog is personal, the contents are my viewpoint based on my experience. This is targeted to educate and enlighten my audience.