Finding Your Path

Even the most exalted states and the most exceptional spiritual accomplishments are unimportant if we cannot be happy in the most basic and ordinary ways, if we cannot touch one another and the life we have been given with our hearts. Jack Kornfield - A Path With Heart

The imagery of the heart is most often linked to feelings of love and relationships; the softer side of life’s experiences. The intellect is associated with thinking, knowledge gathering and task orientation.

In our fast moving society, matters of the heart are relegated to a back-seat position. The more production oriented we become, the more in danger we are of signing up for a life without heart.

A crucial survival skill, given our information overload, is a high level of selective perception. We only see what we deem important. What we value determines what gets our attention.

Your core values drive your decisions. Even if you are unaware of what your values are, you will consistently make your choices based on your value system.

When your core values are poorly defined or ignored, you have no solid foundation. This sets the stage for the repeated creation of upsets that can leave you confused and unhappy with your life choices.

You have the innate power to create a life that is wholesome and rewarding. When you decide to fashion a life that works, the process of taking responsibility for your choices begins. Accept both the benefits and prices of your past decisions and actions.

Push past the demand that life give you all benefits. Begin to choose what you want to create rather than merely avoiding what you don’t want.

When you are overly attached to being in control and self-assured at all costs, you set yourself up for a stilted life of pretending to have arrived somewhere, while having your creativity hijacked by unacknowledged fears and ignored emotions.

As you uncover, discover, respect, and act out of what you value, life cooperates by partnering with you to co-create a life that works.

I remember an incident with my youngest brother when he was about three. He was upstairs in his room playing when all of a sudden I heard a loud noise. When I asked him what happened, through his wailing and tears, he said: “Somebody was jumping on the bed…and I fell off!”

When you are without an internal compass of core values, you jump on the bed of life, going after what you want in the moment. When you fall off, get hurt or derailed, all you have available are your justifications as to why it wasn’t your fault.

There is simply no way to trick life into giving us all benefits and extracting no prices.

A strong working relationship with all of your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energies begins with a solid value system. Court your inner wisdom, establish your basic values, and you will find a realistic life path and a core level of happiness unfolding in your life.