The Heart of the Matter
It’s February again. Heart Month. Hard to avoid all those reminders—in the streets and the stores, in our mailbox and inbox, on the TV and the internet—that our emotional heart is every bit as important as the physical one… Whether that heart feels open or closed right now, whether it feels full or empty, whether we feel inclined or disinclined to love, here we are again in Heart Month.
My plan had been to write this month about the healthy heart’s various functions as I have come to experience them:
The heart as container, welcoming ALL the feelings that rush through us;
The heart as connector, uniting our physical form and the mental / emotional / spiritual energy fields we generate;
The heart as magnet, drawing us ever toward what we most deeply desire;
The heart as lover, compassionately embracing our world and all our fellow travelers on this planet;
The heart as leader, drawing us upward and outward into courageous action and soaring freedom.
Not this month, though, for my heart had a different suggestion. Whereas my mind loves complexity, intricacy, the heart announced: “This is MY month. And I love simplicity. What’s the heart of the matter?”
So here it is, the heart of the matter as I see it.
At this time of year we may be even more aware than usual of a heart that’s feeling empty, or blocked, or closed, or filled with unwanted junk. And we may know some deeper clearing needs to happen. But perhaps we don’t have the time—or the heart!—for that yet.
Even so, one course of action is always open to us: to choose. To file our flight plan with the universe. To set our firm intention as to what matters most to us, and thus begin to build the healing momentum even before we take any outer action.
So here is my Heart Month gift to you: the Heart Choices tool. Why not begin any needed opening or healing now, by firmly stating what you wish, what you choose, to experience in your healthy heartspace? The Universe is listening, after all...
Heart Choices
Print out the statements below, then fill in the blanks with your personal needs, experience and data. When they’re complete, read each one aloud with your hand on your heart. Perhaps you’d like to jump-start the heart-opening process by repeating your choices daily for the next week…
I choose to fill my heart with love. Specifically, I choose to see ___________ and ___________ and ____________ (name some “difficult people” in your life) as helping me to learn compassion, understanding, and discernment of what’s right for me. NO MATTER WHAT, I choose to let my heart stay open in their presence. I choose to fill my heart with love.
I choose to keep my heart open when I feel an emotion. Specifically, when I am feeling ________ or ___________ (name some emotions which have shut down your heart in the past) I choose to feel the feeling fully, let it go, and rest in the open heartspace which remains. I choose to keep my heart open when I feel an emotion.
I choose stillness over stories. Specifically, when I hear my __________ story or my _____________ story (name your most common story-types), I choose to notice, thank myself, turn my attention to the emotion that then arises, and then rest in the open stillness which follows. I choose stillness over stories.
I choose trust, fulfillment and gratitude. Specifically, when ___________________ or _____________________ happens (name one or two events that have in the past created doubt, resentment or abandonment), I choose to feel my feelings, then open into thankfulness that Love is already here inside me, filling me up, and can be trusted NO MATTER WHAT. I choose trust, fulfillment and gratitude.
I choose to remember the Universal Beloved that waits in my heart. Specifically, when I start to feel ____________ (name the feeling that in the past has made you feel most unloved), I choose to ask my Deep Self to remind me vividly, even while I am feeling this emotion, that this Presence is here with me, always. I choose to remember the Universal Beloved that waits in my heart.
I choose ________________________. (Add your own best heart-opener here, as you wish.)
