Life has been a blend of various seasons. I have always wondered how I can be up one minute and down the next. I’ve learnt through the passage of time that life is meant to be that way and in the dark moments we find our truest self.
Your heart knows the way. Run in that direction.
This quote by Rumi often plays in my mind for I’ve realized that most of the time we are conditioned to do what the mind says and not deter from it. So for the time I took up teaching as a career without any sound qualifications besides a graduate degree I know I was ruled by the heart to go and teach. Many beautiful and learning experiences have come my way through this diving into something without any prior experience or knowledge. I learnt to love it with a pure heart.
I often feel when we listen to our heart we maybe led to decisions that seem irrational or unreasonable even impractical but in them we find the greatest joy, that happiness you would not derive otherwise.
When I entered my sabbatical period I was distraught that I had left behind a job I truly loved and was steady in so many ways but could not continue for reasons. I felt myself though open up at that time to things I wanted to learn, to create, to find myself grow. In other words I listened to my heart and literally ran in that direction. I found that there were things I could do that were within me but I hadn’t given myself the time to cultivate into something special.
Whether you go with your heart or with your mind nothing comes with its share of troubles, drawbacks and disappointments. Life has to keep turning and you have to be ever changing and not be afraid to find new facets about yourself. Often we look at what’s on the surface but go deeper into your heart and you will find a fairyland of dreams and fantasies that don’t have to remain that but can become a reality.
Research in the field of neuroscience has shown that emotions play a significant role in decision-making. A famous study by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio found that individuals with damage to the emotional centers of their brains, particularly the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, struggled to make decisions, even though their cognitive abilities were intact. This suggests that emotions, often associated with the “heart,” are crucial for effective decision-making, highlighting that our feelings can significantly influence our choices, sometimes more than logical reasoning alone.【source]
This research clearly states that we are often ruled by the heart while making many important decisions much more than if we were to go about problem solving and decision making in a logical way.
I don’t always say that the heart knows the way but stop relying too much on rationalities and long held beliefs and explore what’s really inside that heart of yours for it knows your beat, your rhythm, your tune and it knows the way and when the time comes it will lend you that direction.
So the next time you want to join an art workshop because you think you may like it, secretly want to learn how to jive, show your art to the world for the first time, sing a song in public, make a gourmet meal for your partner, switch careers, don’t think too much. Your heart knows the way. Run in that direction.
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