Today was all about trusting my gut instincts — really listening to them and trusting! Not chasing after shiny objects!
I let my wanting to be in a specific area, my shiny object, override what I was feeling. What happened was this.
About a month ago, I applied for a house sit in Carlsbad, California. I love the area, having lived there a long time ago and am currently house sitting there. The online listing was very brief, with basically one picture and none of the animals, the main reason to do a sit. The email response I got was that they were new to housesitting but they would like to meet me when I was in the area.
Eventually, a time was mutually agreed upon and I drove over to the house. Really a nice area, so all good there. Once inside, I discovered that the house was an office, not just a home office, but an office with employees there every day! And every bedroom was an office, even the master bedroom, although that was his office and he would be gone.
Not wanting to be rude, I told them I have another application out for the same time, which is true, and that I would get back to them. She was a bit put out, with an attitude that indicated to me that she expected me just to accept it and I tried to explain that it’s a mutual agreement, not an employer/employee relationship.
By then my senses were screaming, exacerbated by an offhand comment she made about Costco being her “happy place!!”
When I got home, I sent her the Book of the House, which is something homeowners can fill out with all the pertinent details and leave for the sitter, hoping it gives her an idea of what is expected of her — and the sitter. And I told her I wasn’t comfortable having people there all the time, at which she was surprised, responding she thought sitters would like that!
I think I managed to be civil and nice the entire time, but I allowed myself to get into the situation because I didn’t listen to my gut, right from the start! So now I need to focus on filling those dates!
It’s really interesting — when I look back on the house sits I’ve really enjoyed, I’ve known from the initial contact that it would be good and that I would like the people and the animals. There are a couple that were a bit iffy, and thinking back, I had misgivings about them. Just driving over there today, I knew it wasn’t right for me but I still had no idea of the situation.
From now on, I am going to be super-vigilant about what sort of vibes I am getting and only act on the ones that feel right and not be tempted by ones that don’t.