HEAD VS. HEART 💗

A CONSTANT STRUGGLE

“The head learns new things, but the heart forever practices old experiences.” — Henry Ward Beecher

We have lost much of our ability to listen to our heart, or if you prefer, our gut. We have become so mind-biased and reason-driven, that we simply ignore or no longer hear or feel our heart or gut feelings.

Of course, it is ideal when head and heart are in harmony, but often the ability to listen to our heart or gut feeling is already driven out of us in our childhood. This was definitely true to a certain extent for me.

Until many years ago, I listened much more to my mind, suppressed my instinct, and ignored my gut feeling as well as what my heart was telling me. I don’t want to claim that my gut feeling has always brought me happiness or was even right. It has made me more vulnerable, even assailable. But it has also made me feel more alive than ever before.

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Listening to my heart has brought me more pain than I can list here. But listening to it has also brought me more joy, more excitement, more passion, and more happiness than most people ever experience in a lifetime. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world and it has probably taught me more in the last few years than in my entire life before.

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” — Nelson Mandela

It may sound almost somewhat esoteric or spiritual to many when you tell someone, “open your heart and wonderful things will come your way.” Maybe it even sounds a little trite and that may actually be the case. But it’s really worth just giving it a try.

But how does it actually work? If you are a head person, analysing everything rationally, how do you manage to trust your instincts, your gut feeling, and your heart a little more again? How do you even activate these if you have suppressed them for the better part of your life?

If we start to (over)think and discuss things, if we justify them with complicated explanations and it feels strange in our stomach or elsewhere, it is probably (certainly not always) simply wrong.

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In essence, it simply means observing how things make you feel in your daily life and allowing these feelings to surface. Most of the time our first instinct is not so wrong. If it feels good, warm, and right and doesn’t need much explanation or convincing it is probably mostly (but not always) right. The best example for me is the past few years. What has been and still is happening never felt right to me. On the contrary actually. At every turn my heart and my gut - and in this case, my mind was absolutely in sync as well - screamed that this is all wrong. I listened and I am still listening to that feeling every single day!

At the end of the day, it is always about finding a balance – a balance between head and heart so that we can live our short lives to the fullest and live the abundant life we deserve.

So, perhaps we should just celebrate every moment, every breath, remembering to just be. Of course, that is (as so often and with many things) so much easier said than done. But it is actually about making a choice and taking small steps. We tend to forget so easily how we were as children (or how we wanted to be). Before we started to rationalise everything we simply followed our instinct. Regaining a bit of that quality can make all the difference… especially if you listen to what your heart is telling you!

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.” — Helen Keller

THE HEART DOES LEAD US TO PLACES THE HEAD WOULD NEVER GO!

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🎶My Song of the Week

I just discovered this amazing song and have been listening to it almost nonstop ever since. I hope you enjoy it just as much!

For more good music, go to this Spotify playlist where you can find all the songs from the Change & Evolve Letters!

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📚My Poem of the Week

Is by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

My Heart Leaps Up

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

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👀Impressions

Just a beautiful sky!

If you would like to connect with me, find out more about the Enneagram and yourself, and how it can transform you and your life, I would be happy to take the time for a speed coaching call that you can reserve right here go to my website or simply hit reply and get in touch with me directly.

Wishing you a wonderful start to your weekend and I very much look forward to your feedback and comments!

Yours

Tanja 🤗