To me there is no all-encompassing answer for that question. If our intent is good, yet the results turned out bad, do we condemn the action, the results, or the person who initiated it? Or the flip side is if the results are good, but the intent and method of achieving said results were not so altruistic or good-hearted, do we applaud the results and the perpetrator? To me the heart and mind are often at odds with each other. The mind can be a very deceptive fellow. Hatred, fear, discontent, misinformation, stubbornness … these are results of the mind’s trickery. We have the unique ability to hide behind our thoughts, and justify anything we choose to justify with “facts” so that the mind tells us something is good … even when the heart disagrees. Some of us have mastered the art so well that we can no longer even hear our hearts. On the other hand, the heart, while it knows good innately, can often be naive. The heart can easily ignore things that it does not want to deal with, because the heart wants all things to come out as it “should” and sometimes faith is the only way for the heart to deal with contrary evidence.
So how do we decide how to act. Or even WHEN to act. Do we rely solely on the “facts”? Do we just follow our hearts. Or do we do as so many of us seem to do these days, and simply let someone else make out decisions for us? This is my answer:
We use BOTH.
The mind is a very useful tool. The mind is where the imagination resides. The mind is the tool we use to create; to combat the “impossible”. The so-called negative emotions are not always bad, because they help the mind recognize boundaries, which can often be useful. But like ANY tool, the mind can be used incorrectly. Because of its great power, a mind used with negative intent can cause great destruction and discord. That is where the heart comes in. The heart guides us to what is right. It guides us to the ideal, to the way things “should” be. But the heart does not easily take into account whether something easily CAN be. And it sometimes will not recognize the difficulties of making SHOULD into IS.
So the trick is this. Let the two work together. When deciding on our actions, find the common ground between heart and mind. If the mind has an idea, see what the heart feels about it before you pursue it. When the heart screams out “This must be!” then let the mind join in and find the best way to make it so. It is when we ignore one for the sake of the other that we seem to go wrong.
Right intentions are necessary for right action. But so are right thoughts. Follow your heart, but make sure you understand what it is you are doing and what might result. Make your ideas a reality, but make sure that your heart is also behind them, because ideas with no heart are one of the primary causes of strife in the world. Mistakes are ok, as long as we learn from them. That is a function of heart as well as mind.
Change starts with our selves. One of the first steps is allowing our selves to become whole within ourselves. When heart and mind work together, what we are really doing is speaking to our souls. That inner voice will always guide us well, not the least because it is one we ALL share. it is no wonder we find it so difficult to work together as humans … we often seem to fail simply working together in ourselves. When all our inner voices are finally being heard, we will find they all say the same thing. And maybe then we will start getting things right.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
