LIFE INSIDE OUT

YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE HEART “Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” -Carl Jung There is nothing wrong with dreaming, except that you must be asleep to do it. Sometimes you get marvelous dreams in which you soar over monstrous obstacles, but you can also get the proverbial nightmare. If we go through life asleep we get the same random experiences – some heavenly and some hellish. Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychologist, believed the key to living our vision of a vibrant, contented, fulfilling life is within us. However, looking for answers outside ourselves is like dreaming through life. Why do that when we have a buried treasure inside? All we need is the treasure map. We've had it all along, but didn't know it. The map is in our hearts! However, our Western culture has downplayed the value of the heart and favored the illustrious logical mind exclusively, which has been only too happy to take the throne. The poor heart was feminized to the point that if someone “has heart” they're considered soft and weak. Since our country and world is always at war with something, the citizens are encouraged to be tough against all the many enemies that need to be defeated. We don't need heart for war. We've ignored our heart map and its intuitive directions, because we didn't understand how wise and powerful it was. But now we can wake up from the nightmares we've endured from believing our linear thoughts which we hardly ever questioned. We lived as if the ghosts and goblins were real. The human heart is command central of the body. It is the essence of our life. It starts beating in the early stages of the fetus way before the brain even starts to develop. No one quite knows how it starts beating...it just does. The heart doesn't need the brain to keep beating. It has its own independent nervous system called “the brain in the heart”. It has at least forty thousand neurons (nerve cells) and thinks for itself! The brain sends commands to the heart, which it doesn't always obey. The mind works in a linear, logical manner based on past experience and limited perceptions. As you have experienced, this is a very limited way to resolve emotional issues. On the other hand, heart intelligence is intuitive, flexible, creative and comprehensive. Somehow, the heart draws on an almost supernatural knowingness. It is Truth with a capital T. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he”. Proverbs 23:7 Whenever we resist a truth that our heart is trying to tell us, we sabotage it, ignore it or even stop it with an attack. Almost all the stress and stress related diseases are caused by the conflict between the mind and the heart. They are not working together, not congruent. We focus in our minds and give it all the power, ignoring our heart's wisdom. We have the cart before the horse. Neither the cart nor the horse is in error, the mistake is in the position. If the heart, (horse), is put in front of the mind (cart), one can travel through life nicely with almost no stress. Therefore, whenever we need to make a choice we would be wise to consult the heart-mind first, and let the heart engage the mind. When the heart leads then we will get the desires of our hearts which are the results we really want. Just as you would never go out and drive your car in your sleep, it is only wise to not drive your life in your sleep either. First, wake up, engage your command center, go within and consult your “heart brain”. Ask yourself what your deep core feeling is. Allow your heart to begin communicating with your brain. The heart makes you aware of what you want; and then the brain can help you take action on your desires and intentions. Don't go back to sleep. If you do and you give your mind the car keys, you will drive right into the ditch. After doing that a few times, you won't be able to it unconsciously anymore. You’ll know better. You're awakening to your true “Heart Self”.