The Heart Finally Figured Out

Aaaaaaand we're back. With more insights into things we already know. What's on today's program, you ask? Well folks, today I discuss the Heart. If it wasn't needed for super important functions like providing 'dup dup' noises for medical scenes and horror scenes in movies, I'd say the heart is as useless as well, fingernails. I mean seriously, what on earth are fingernails for?

But no, the heart really is important. O.O Keeps you alive and shit.

So yes the heart. Tricky little bugger. Do we listen to it? Do we not listen to it? When do we listen to it? Are we supposed to listen to it in the first place? So, so many questions but I think I've got it figured out. I think. So here's my tips to living with your Heart.

Basically, think of it as a child. As your child. Then everything will fall into place. Unless of course you're one of those parents (or would be parents) who'd pamper and spoil your children. 

Tip #1

Never give your heart everything it wants, only what it needs.

- Children have a knack of wanting everything attractive they see. If its marketed well, if it looks good, they must have it. But do we give it all to them? No. Of course we'll give them some of the things they ask, but only the ones that are somewhat beneficial to them. And then some. The same goes with the heart. It'll want everything attractive it sees. Whether its a thing like a fancy car or pretty jewellery, or even a handsome man or a beautiful lady. Don't let it have them all. Practice the same discipline you would on your child. Give it what it needs. If the fancy car's going to take up a substantial amount of your income each month, say no. If you're not going to wear the pretty jewellery more than a couple of times, say no. If the handsome man or beautiful lady has potential to somehow hurt you in the end, say no. Splurge if you must sometimes but not on something that will do more damage than good.

Tip #2

Nourish the heart 3 times a day.

- You feed your children 3 times a day, right? A hearty breakfast to start the day, an energy packed lunch to keep the stamina going and a wholesome dinner to replenish all that lost energy. Do the same with the heart. Practice 3 things a day that you feel will keep you light hearted and motivated. Here are some examples:

~ Tell yourself you're going to have a good day today when you wake up

~ Brisk walk for about 15 to 30 minutes

~ Meet up with friends

~ Hug someone

~ Have and complete simple daily goals

~ Laugh

~ Smile

~ Take a moment to just relax and do nothing (JUST a moment)

~ Talk your problems to someone (keep your heart worry free or it'll cloud your judgements)

Tip #3

Know your friends

- Parents tend to know who their children's friends are. You wouldn't want them mixing with the wrong crowd that will influence them and undo all the splendid work you've already done. Keep the same attitude with your heart. Fill your space with positive minded people. People with energy and are goal-driven. When you mix with people like these, you tend to adopt their characteristics too. And when you're positive, energetic and goal-driven, your heart will make all the right decisions. I'm not telling you to dump friends who have problems. These friends you have keep closer. Let them be your reality check about what can happen when you give your heart too much leverage. Don't use them solely for this of course. Make use of your heart to give them good advise. Advise that you know will work to make their lives better and to cope with whatever it is they are facing.

Tip #4

Encourage team work

- Children are often shy and so parents take this as their cue to introduce them to other kids. Ever notice how when a group of children get together, they're not all doing the same thing. Everyone's got their own little job in the group. Whether its passing the ball, clearing the way for another kid in their team to win the game or even just coming up with an idea for what to do or play and how. In the same way, let your heart work with your other organs, i.e. your brain. Its not just a piece of jelly taking up space in your head. The brain tends to give very logical advice, so let the heart work with these narrowed-down advise to come up with something that's a little more feelings-conscious. You can never go wrong when you let your heart and brain work out the best thing you should do in any given situation.

So there you go. The My heart all figured out while stuck in a pointless traffic jam at 8 in the morning. I hope you find bits and pieces from this that you can use for your heart too. Essentially I think its impossible to not listen to your heart at all. So treat it like a child. Every now and then they tend to come up with surprising and really cool insights on things. Let your heart do the same. Don't spoil it.

Help your heart help you.

Second chances

I'm going to start with the age old, clichéd question. Does everybody deserve second chances? My answer: Yes, but within reason. But this is not what this blog is going to be about. Let me ask another question:

Do you think YOU deserve a second chance? Not from someone else, but from yourself.

We've all  I've disappointed many, many people. Friends, family, colleagues, even people I don't know who I have affected in some way. I've apologized to all of them and they've all forgiven me full heartedly. How do I know this? They still trust me with everyday work that involve them too. And I appreciate them so much for this.

But somehow at the end of the day, there's a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I can't get out no matter how much I try. I'm disappointed with myself. Disappointed with all my failed attempts at whatever it was I was trying to do, disappointed with all my failed attempts at school and of course disappointed at all my failed attempts at relationships.

Then I'll spend sleepless nights thinking about all these failures. Now I'm sure I'm not the only that does this. But anywho, I think about all the time I wasted. Time that I wished I could somehow get back. I think about all the decisions I made. Decisions that I wished I could somehow undo. Funny thing about life is, there's no going back. Once something's done, its done. End of story. Puts you in a very stressful situation doesn't it? I mean, I don't know if I'll regret this post later on too. I hope I don't. I also hope you find some truth in here about the point that I'm going to get to.

So what is my point.

My point is, no good thing can come from thinking about your past. You get more stressed out. You waste more time. You upset yourself. And then at the end of it all, you realise, like me now, that I could've put all that time "thinking" about my past to better use. Like thinking about my future. Setting achievable goals for myself. This realisation of course only comes when you give yourself a second chance.

Yes, I've screwed up. Yes, I've done many, many things that I wish I hadn't. But I am going to give myself that second chance to prove to myself that I am worth something. That I've learnt from everything I've done, every wrong decision I made and every second I wasted. It's not easy but hey, its a second chance at regaining my self-worth. So why not take it?

I believe you are a reflection of your thoughts about yourself. And if you think you're no good then the people around you will think the same way. I learnt that the hard way.

Giving other people a second chance at redeeming themselves is a good thing. Makes them appreciate you more and it sorta guilts them in a way too, to not repeat their mistakes. So its the same for us. When we give ourselves a second chance, we're telling ourselves that we believe there's still hope for us. That its not too late to try again. And that now that we've learnt our mistakes, repeating it will be almost stupid.

I'm going to take my second chance and I'm going to make the best of it. I can't change my past so I'll make my future the best I can.

If you feel like you've been burdened by your past, take that second chance that only you can offer yourself. Take it and give yourself sweet memories instead of a haunting past.

Here's a line from a song I heard on the radio today that brought about the idea of this post:

May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground, carry on.

~ Carry On, by Fun.

What I guess it means is that, you should keep moving forward no matter what. So that when you look back on your past, you only see yourself as someone that kept "their feet on the ground" and "carried on".

Give yourself the chance to be the person you know in your heart you are.