No. 1 in a Series
Remember the disappointment you felt when things that were supposed to make you happy, did not. What did you learn from those experiences?
In a past life as a psychologist, teacher, writer, and seminar leader, I achieved everything I believed would make me happy. I had a beautiful and fascinating wife, a wonderful family, a handsome home, and wealth beyond my wildest expectations. To the outside world, I probably seemed successful and powerful. Inside, however, was a gnawing omnipresent low-level anxiety and discontent. I had no intimate friendships and I was becoming more and more irritable and unhappy.
When my marriage began to unravel, so did I. At that time, I had no clue that I was about to embark on a journey that would lead to parts of myself I had never known and to a greater sense of personal power, more satisfying relationships, and fulfillment than I ever dreamed possible. I had only a vague awareness that even though I was a well-respected member of my community, I felt like a fraud and was terrified of being found out and ending up alone and lonely.
The journey has been to deeply understanding the part my heart plays in my yearning for inner peace, joy, abundance and meaningful relationships with others and myself. It has meant learning about issues such as:
• Living more in integrity with my authentic self, my heart.
• The behavior and feelings that come both from my heart and when I’m disconnected from my heart.
• Whenever I lose my heart connection, how to return to it.
• How being respectful, especially to myself, builds a deepening trust in all my relationships.
The above subjects will be covered in my first series of blogs. They will culminate in showing the way to resolving relationship difficulties that does not compromise anyone’s integrity. This is the key to increasing long-term stability and closeness in all relationships.
Since the journey to living heart-connected more of the time is unique for each of us, not everything I share will necessarily be right for you.
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Subsequent blogs will apply living in harmony with our hearts to specific behaviors, feelings, and issues such as arguments, sexual intimacy, emotional intimacy, guilt, spirituality, anger, judgments, gender identity, jealousy, infidelity, parenting and much, much more.
All blogs reflect my more than fifty years of studying the human condition and applying what I’ve learned to my own life. I don’t claim that what I’ve found is “the” truth only that it is “my” truth.
Since the journey to living heart-connected more of the time is unique for each of us, not everything I share will necessarily be right for you. I hope you will utilize what feels right for you, question what does not feel right, and reject what your heart does not need.
At the end of each post will be questions, experiences, and information designed to help facilitate a greater connection to your heart and find greater fulfillment in your life. Keeping a journal will be a useful tool for clarifying your learning.
There will also be the suggestion to share what you’ve learned with another person. Sharing-it-forward is a very powerful learning tool. It not only deepens your learning but any questions that you have difficulty answering will illuminate what more you need to learn about the subject and how to be a more effective teacher.
For Your Journey
- Think about a time when you were fully present and deeply connected with another person, nature or yourself, and write about the feelings and outcomes of that experience.
- Remember times when you shared your deepest feelings with another person and write about how that changed your life and theirs.
- Share-it-forward. Share your thoughts about what you truly need to feel happy and fulfilled.
Next Week: How to Become Your Own Hero: Stay Heart-Connected in the Face of Difficulties
BECOMING YOUR OWN HERO illuminates a path available to us all to attain the kind of personal power demonstrated by our most revered and inspirational heroes. Marianne Williamson, #1 New York Times best-selling author said, “I highly recommend this illuminating and touching look into the possibilities of staying connected to our hearts, even when facing difficult situations.”
Photo: Flickr:/Earl McGehee