This month I’m talking about listening with the heart. Because if we don’t listen with our heart, we listen to the noise around us. We’re bombarded with noise all day long; the TV, the radio, people telling us what they’re doing, what they think we should be doing. It’s noise. It’s their thoughts, their attitudes, what we should, could, must, ought, do. And it’s exhausting. And if we listen to the noise, then our cup becomes empty and we can’t refill it.
When we listen to our heart, the heart doesn’t shout. It doesn’t command. It doesn’t threaten or tell us if we don’t do this, that’s going to be the outcome. The heart speaks softly and gently in the silence, which is why meditation is so useful. And if and when we listen to our heart, we know that we’re moving in the right direction. We may not know what the right direction is. We may not know where it’s going to take us. But being heart-led means that we’re always present and centred and caring of who we are, of those around us, of all that is occurring.
It doesn’t mean that we’re detached. We’re detached from our emotions- yes. That doesn’t mean we don’t feel, we still feel we feel deeply. We’re not at the mercy of what the emotions are telling us and that is so important.
Our heart will follow the thread that our Soul has given it and so by setting aside the noise what happens is that we begin to hear our own truth. And sometimes that truth is very uncomfortable and challenging. If you’re a carer, sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the pain of others as a healer to feel what someone else is experiencing. And if you’re not careful, it can pull you into it. Whereas if you’re heart-centred before you begin any communication with someone for whom you’re caring, you can hold the space for their pain, their journey, and not be pulled down the rabbit hole of it so that you lose yourself as well.
Staying grounded in these situations is about compassion for self, is about allowing yourself and others to be present to the experience without everybody having to feel and do the same thing.
Life isn’t always easy. I can remember saying to my dad, but dad, that’s not fair. And he said to me, Helen, nobody ever promised you fair. And he was right. It’s not fair. When you’re going through something deeply challenging, deeply personal, the temptation is to feel, why me? Why is this happening? And it’s the wrong question. The real question is, how do I take care of myself, and those I care for as we navigate this? And that’s through what the heart guides us to and in the final analysis what the heart takes us to is peace, an acceptance that where we’re at is exactly where we’re meant to be for whatever reason. That no matter how hard it may be at this point in time, it’s part of the journey. We signed up for it. We had the fun. We can’t turn around and complain now.
By listening to the heart, sitting in the silence, we start to feel a sense of acceptance.
As I said, we don’t have to like it. However, if we allow the heart to speak, that silence becomes our peace and our comfort, and the signpost on our journey.
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