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On Life: Heart and Mind
When considering life planning many counselors start with the big goals people have. I personal prefer to start with the individual’s most important principles and values. I like to get people thinking about what is really important to them, not what the culture, or friends, or family thing they should accomplish. From there we can then determine how well their goals and decisions fit into the values.
As humans we clearly have two things pulling us in different directions. In the book of Romans, Paul goes on at length about how he does not do what he wants to do, but rather does what he do not want to do. We all have this issue. I believe it shows we clearly have two competing struggles within us. The spirit vs. the flesh, the conscious vs. subconscious, the mind vs. the heart… call it what you want. We have one set of values which we can state verbally and another which seem to govern our day-to-day decisions. The mind logically says I want to accomplish X or be Y, while the heart, which makes the day-to-day decisions, seems intent on doing things which are clearly not moving in that direction.
The difference between the heart and the mind, over time, is dissatisfaction in life. If we can align today, our values and our goals, we will have a much better chance of being happy in the future.
Posted by Paul Gernhardt on Sunday, January 18, 2009