The Art of Following Your Heart

Have you ever heard of the saying, "Your brain thinks, but your heart knows"? I have heard this saying ever since I was a little kid, but I never really understood the meaning of it until recently. I realized that the brain is good at making logical decisions and weighing the pros and cons of each decision in that moment. It picks the path where pros outweigh the cons. The heart, on the other hand, doesn't think logically. It picks a path for you that feels right. Allow me to tell one story that made me realize the meaning of this saying:

A few months ago, when I moved to my new gym, it was sudden and almost spontaneous for me. I was happy at my old gym, but the owner suddenly created a new rule that I had a very strong belief about. I couldn't break that belief even if it meant that I had to leave the gym and the owner wasn't willing to break his beliefs even if it meant losing one of his top gymnasts. So I set up a meeting hoping we would come to a compromise, and it didn't happen. But even before this meeting, my heart was telling me that I needed to leave this gym. Even though I was upset for several weeks after quitting at my old gym, my heart just knew that I had made the right decision. I had to remind myself that me being upset wasn't because I felt that I had made a wrong decision, rather it was because my brain and body wanted my past back because my past was familiar and comfortable. I was upset because I was in the unknown and it made me feel uncomfortable. Almost four months later, I now know that I had made the right decision and I feel comfortable at my new gym.


Your brain is logical:

In other words, your brain thinks. In making an important decision, your brain will do a logical analysis of the situation and come up with pros and cons of each scenario, and then figure out what decision has the best outcome for you. However, your brain doesn't know what your exact future is going to look like and can only make a decision based on what your immediate reality looks like. 

For tough decisions that logically seem to have the same outcome, your brain will be indecisive. It will bounce back and forth between one decision to the other decision. It can be quite stressful to listen to your brain when it comes to this type of decision. In this case, your best option is to listen to your heart, because it knows what's best for you. 


Your heart is wise:

Your heart doesn't think, it just knows. It helps guide you to make the best decisions for your life, especially in inflection points, that is, points in your life that will change you and your life completely. I believe the heart is a messenger for the universe; it's how the universe guides you in life. The universe communicates with you through feelings that come from your heart; something that the logical brain can't explain. 

Sometimes your heart will point in the opposite direction of your brain. It's your decision then to figure out if you're going to trust your heart or your brain. And sometimes your heart will choose a decision that sounds scary to your brain, like making a decision that takes you out of your comfort zone. These types of decisions that your brain can't logically analyze and figure out what your future will look like are the decisions that your heart will push you towards. 

Usually, the heart will push us toward the unknown, because this is a place where we can create possibility. And with possibility comes new experiences, and with new experiences comes knowledge about ourselves and about life. However, let me warn you: decisions where you travel to the unknown, where your brain can't predict your future, will make your brain and body want to return to safety, or your past. So it's normal for you to feel upset or regret your decision and want your past back in the short-term. But you have to remember that traveling into the unknown and getting uncomfortable is part of growth and becoming a new, more wise person. 

Photo Credit: QuoteHD.com


Comment below a story of you following a decision that was made by your heart. And let me know how that turned out for you. Thanks for reading!

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