The downside of aggression

I have been much more aggressive lately. The upside is picking up a lot of small pots. The downside is getting in a situation where you dont want to fold and you end up losing a pot with second best hand. Even worse, because of the aggressive tendancies, you find it harder to escape a hand.

NOTE: I did not say that its harder to KNOW when to escape, just that its harder to do it.

Last night may be a bad example because all three big pots I lost, I had what I thought was a great flop and in all three cases my opponent had trips or a set.

But in 1 case, I has getting 5-1 to hit a river flush. But it was half my remaining stack. I reluctantly made the mathmatically correct call, even though I would normally fold here.

In another case, I KNEW I was behind, but called down with second best hand "in case I was wrong and I was being played back at".

I need to take both my new aggression and my houdini skills out at the table. I have got to blend the styles and stop being 100% mathmatical and get back to the strategic metagame aspects. Lots of aggression is certainly better in cash games and shorthanded games IMHO.