What My Heart Tells Me
Most of us are encouraged by our parents and society to “think” things through”, “be reasonable” and do the “smart” thing. Much emphasis is placed on “using our head” to make important choices. When choosing our careers, we often consider salary first and then things like prestige, perks, long term stability, and chances for advancement. Yet, how often in our considerations do we factor in those things that make life worth living? How often do we even consider what our heart is feeling… and saying? Do we even know what path our heart wants to take? Have we ever considered our heart at all? Do we even take a moment to ask ourselves… if we would be happy to get up each day and do this particular type of work? Do we consider how we will feel about being a part of what our employer is actually doing? Do we ask: “What are the chances that I will be adversely affected by policies or politics within the company, or within the industry, that may demoralize, demean or stifle me? Will I be able to grow in spiritual qualities, by taking on this job? Does this job serve my heart’s purpose and passion?”
All around us we see numerous examples of people living lives disconnected from their hearts, because they have not learned how to consider these questions and honor their own heart in their choices, for jobs, for friends, for hobbies and yes… sometimes… even in their choice for a life partner. It’s sad to behold, when this happens. And, it’s further proof that the most intelligent choice… and the most lucrative choice, may prove to be a poor choice, in the end, if it disregards the needs of one’s heart.
Don’t we all know someone who went ahead and made the “sensible” choice in their life and then later came to regret it? I know I’ve known a few. They often struggle with depression or regret. Later on, they may even become bitter, without understanding why. I believe it’s because they have lived a life where the heart suffers from a lack of expression. I believe that we must find avenues for expressing both what is in our heart, and what are minds are capable of, if we are to be at our happiest.
If one does not know what their heart requires, it is because one has forgotten the joys of childhood. This can be overcome with enough love and dedication. One can become dedicated to reacquainting oneself with their heart’s joy, and thus live a happier more balanced life.
As you learn to listen to your heart, you will bring into every decision a sense of purpose and fulfillment. Life will become satisfying again. Eventually, in time, you will come to know the wisdom in voluntarily offering your mind in service to your heart. When this happens, life becomes a sort of “continual and endless preparation” to follow your heart, from one joy… to the next. And you will know you have found the path of your heart, because there will be excitement. There will be passion.
So, let’s not let our mind frustrate the choices of our heart by dissecting and criticizing, or bringing up fears around it. Let’s teach our minds to “serve” the heart’s passion, to find the way forward, to keep vigil, and focus upon the goal of the heart and not falter in the face of fear. It is the minds highest purpose to be at the ready to aid and to prepare itself to help the heart move forward, towards it’s passion.
Loving, joyful actions (and reactions) spring from the heart centered life and emit vibrations that attract that which is required for each successive step forward towards your heart’s greatest joy. That is to say… Where the mind is used as a servant to the highest heartfelt purposes, all is well and life unfolds as a flower does, bringing forth the nectar. Hardships will be endured, if necessary because they are not experienced in the same way as a hardships which are unattached to the heart’s ideal.
Too many of us are living life with the mind in the driver’s seat, cognizant only of material benefits and considerations. And thus life itself becomes more and more a reflection of materiality. It become ever more concerned with bottom lines and indulgence of the ego and the senses.
But, the chains of illusion, built by the mind, are starting to fall away now, as we turn inward and consider the heart’s eternal flame. Circumstances begin to force us to take a look at our lives and ask: “Is there is some other way to live that honors my heart? Is there some path that is more authentic and sustainable”? How do we build a life that is rooted in “stability”, that does not crumble along with the rising and falling of the stock market and the financial health of the Federal Reserve? How do we take care of ourselves and our families when it appears that our world is so unstable and fraught with lies and half-truths?
The answer is to take care of your heart first and become a keeper of the flame that always abides within you. In all that you do, in every decision that you make, first consult your heart, then employ your mind as a helper to the purpose and ideal which your heart holds dear. Then, the life you live will always be worth living, and every consequence that comes as a result of living life from your heart, will be acceptable, will even be worth struggling for, if that should be the case.
It is the life that is lived strictly and predominately from the mind, which blocks out the considerable and very necessary “joy” factor in your life and leaves you feeling “defeated”, depressed, lost and unmotivated. One does not suffer hardship well, when it is for the sake of untruth. And it is untruth that mind alone can ever lead us to a happy life. The mind and the heart (our reason and passion) were meant to enhance one another – not frustrate one another.
May I suggest that we all take a little time to sit outside, under the trees, and let our personal musings come forward. Let’s invite our heart to come out and play. Then, let’s honor it, by putting it in the driver’s seat.