Minds, protect your Hearts.
Have you ever found
yourself conflicted? Part of you wants something, while another part wants
something else? That’s because we are complex beings with more than just one
single force of thought. We have two complementary ways of making decisions and
processing life: the mind and the heart.
The mind is rational,
intelligent, observant and careful.
The heart is passionate,
sensing, intuitive and daring.
These two forces often
oppose each other when what they should be doing is protecting each other.
When the mind fights the heart: You know deep down, despite logic, something is
true, but looking at the situation from a rational stance threatens any peace.
Normally the mind will bully the heart to forsake this unwarranted belief
despite these sincere convictions. What ends up happening is the heart gets
sick as it is forced to go against its innate beliefs.
The mind may not be
willing to take the risk whether it be to protect its pride in case of failure
(as our mind leans towards intelligence and failing is not typically considered
an intelligent thing to do) or whether it be simply that the mind discounts the
worth of the heart.
When the mind protects the heart: Oftentimes when the heart believes something, doubts
come to the surface. These natural doubts that cross our paths are attractive
to the mind because doubts are rational and appease our common sense. The
problem with this: doubts may be rational, but they are not necessarily the
whole picture, and for the most part, should never be the driving force for
decisions in our lives. For example, a person may be struggling to get by and wants
to go back to school. He or she may hear the doubts of his or her peers such
as, “You don’t have the money or the time. You’ll never make it through.” These
doubts may be logical, but are they ultimately true? Maybe, maybe not.
The mind
does not fear doubts because doubts appease us to play things safe, and playing
it safe typically protects us from failure--something the mind prefers not to experience. On the other hand, doubts cause
fear in our hearts because a heart works best in an environment of hope, and as
we know, doubt is the opposite of hope.
So how can the mind
protect the heart? This is where being rational is helpful. Unhindered by
emotion, the mind can step in and throw down doubts with its own reason: “Maybe
I don’t have money, and maybe I don’t have a lot of time, but I know I have
options. I can get financial assistance, and I can manage my time better.
Others have done this, and so can I.” Even more inspiring, our minds that are
typically wired to protect us from failure can rationalize this fear as well: “Maybe
I will fail, but that does not mean I can’t try again. Maybe I’m not good
enough now, but that does not mean I can’t get better.” This is the
relationship the mind ought to have with the heart as the mind wards of
negativity while the heart has freedom to flourish with hope and optimism.
Of course, there are times when the heart may not be reliable as the leader in our life decisions, but that is another topic to be discussed in Part 2.
