I blamed the humidity – as if a rise in dew point could addle my brain. Despite the overcast skies and unseasonably cold whether, the calendar page told me it was May, and I had been encouraged by the young team’s come-from-behind fighting spirit in April, so I decided I had to act NOW.

I went to Clark & Addison, to the Cubs’ ticket windows, and dropped $400 on tickets.

I know the friends I will invite to join me for the three games will pay me back when we go, but it seemed to be uncharacteristic of me to lay out money for something I won’t get to enjoy for weeks or months.

Still, I felt the future is NOW, and I had to act.

I knew that I might not get to watch the Cubs against the Brew Crew in August unless I bought tickets now. I thought about reveling in the afternoon sun, sipping Old Style from a plastic tumbler and complaining about how garish the new Jumbotron looked next to old green scoreboard.

And what if the Cubs actually make the Cards work for their division title this year? Won’t I be glad at the end of September that I saw them squaring off In July?

I thought about times where I delayed leaving my house because I had a inkling that traffic would be bad…

Or the last time I planned a European vacation. I followed guidance even more compelling that Rick Steves’. Besides visiting popular attractions, I chose to spend time hanging out in specific neighborhoods, which turned out to provide some of the highlights of my trip.

There seems to be a tension between living in the moment and making arrangements to be satisfied at some future point. But maybe The Power of Now and The Future is Now mindsets are really not so different.

We all seem to listen to that voice inside (or choose to ignore it) to different degrees.

It might tell us to take an umbrella as we head out for the day, or encourage us to call someone, or check out a store we haven’t been to in a while.

The more we see these subtle notions play out in the world, the more we build confidence in this voice. We learn to believe in ourselves at a different level when it actually does rain during the day we listened to the voice that told us to take an umbrella, or called a friend at a time when they needed encouragement, or found something perfect for our taste at a store we hadn’t patronized in a while.

While I don’t buy lotto tickets expecting that some sort of hunch will translate into a financial boon, I do try to pay attention to ideas that seem to come to me from out of nowhere. I give attention to ideas that come back after having other points of focus (careful not to obsess), and I will reflect on physical sensations and try to understand what they might be telling me.

I am glad I can exercise this capacity of feeling my way into a decision. I am glad to be learning how to trust my intuition more and not confuse its guidance with wishful thinking.

Being willing to act on in the moment clues and opportunities that can only come to fruition in the future is no small thing.