I am learning that life is about paths, about free will to choose them, about obstacles in them, about resistance to them, and about us listening to our heads sometimes, as opposed to our hearts and souls. For years, I have followed my head and made choices that have shown me some level of accomplishment, of happiness, and of success. However, these also came along with some level of stress, tension, disappointment, and heartache. Today, on the contrary, following my heart is leading me to choices that truly fill my soul, lift my spirit, show me peace and calm that I have never known before, and given me an excitement and sense that nothing is impossible.
My heart has taken me on a spiritual journey, a philosophical journey, a journey to becoming a better more loving human being. This journey has me reading, watching, and researching all kinds of things, from religion, self-help, transformational, mystical, to governmental, health and wellness, informational, and even sometimes the good old dictionary and/or encyclopedia. This journey is bringing me greater awareness, greater ability to live each moment in the here and now, and greater recognition of life’s messages, coincidences, synchronicity, connectedness to others and God, call it whatever you want.
The reason for this blog post is me wanting to share something I became clearly aware of while watching a movie the other day. There was something said that I immediately recognized in myself. Something that I thought the years had me, in small ways tackling; until I was put on this path and realized how far I still had to go. What was said had me truly recognizing my life following my head vs my life following my heart. The movie was The Replacements. The part of the movie has a football team in the locker room with the coach writing the word FEAR on the blackboard and asking the players what they were afraid of.
One player responds quicksand and goes on to define what he meant in this way “your playing and you think everything is going fine, then one thing goes wrong, and then another, and another, and you try to fight back, but the harder you fight, the deeper you sink, until you can’t move, can’t breathe, because you are in over your head – like quicksand”. Whether he is talking about the steady stream of losing confidence or not, that was what I recognized in his statement and applied it to myself.
Choosing to educate myself and follow that path that came from my logical self, led me to many jobs. And at each job I thought I was doing just fine, until I continued to watch others being promoted above me. So with each passing job I worked harder, tried to proof myself more, tried to show that I was deserving. But, with each lack of promotion, fear creeps in and begins to whisper “you know you can’t, you know you are not good enough, you know you would be in over your head”. Before you know it, your stuck, you can’t breathe, and you just go through the motions. Then fear almost keeps you from leaving, keeps you even more stuck, keeps you drowning in quicksand.
Well the best thing I could have ever done, was to begin to listen to my heart. To listen to what it desired, to listen to what it said I could do, and I began to follow that path. It hasn’t necessarily been an easy one either. Following your heart means you have to recognize your damage and begin to heal it. The further along this path I travel, and the more knowledge I seek, the stronger and more confident I become. The more I recognize my abilities, my desires, my truths, my strengths, and my weaknesses. Following a path that truly makes your heart sing, eventually seems as though it takes less effort, less work, and movement around obstacles becomes far easier. So my advice, listen to your heart and soul, it is the place of love, try not to be afraid of where it takes you, because no matter the path; the destinations are far more rewarding.
Got thoughts, don’t be afraid to leave them..