These last two weeks were not the easiest for me. A lot has happened emotionally. A lot of thoughts and feelings have run through my head. And there is one thing that I have learned from these thoughts and feelings. It is to follow your heart, and do what feels good. How painful or impactful those decisions may be. Today I will tell you the three most important reasons why you should do the same.
Staying Authenic
First and foremost, I think the main reason for choosing to follow your heart is to stay authentic. Choosing your heart makes you the person you are. Your decisions shape your identity. And choosing to let your heart lead those decisions is a critical step in portraying who you truly are. Take an example. Say you see an old lady at the edge of the sidewalk and she wishes to cross the street. Society says to always help the old lady cross as it is morally the right thing to do. And we, as humanity, believe everyone should do everything to help the old lady. In practice, however, there are many people who might continue past the old lady and decide to not help her.
And I believe that this is not a bad thing. People are busy and have other things on their mind. They want to pick up their children from school or do the groceries for tonight. Or maybe they don’t feel like helping the old lady. Whatever the reason may be, I think it comes down to what your heart tells you to do. Maybe you think that picking up your children from school is more important to you. Or maybe you think that helping out the old lady and feeling good about what you have done for the world is better for you.
Life is full of decisions. And sometimes they seem morally wrong, or even wrong in general. Like quitting your studies to pursue happiness. But I think if you take the time to make the decisions you make, and you truly think that this is what you want. Following your heart is not so bad after all. Following your instincts can help you navigate difficult decisions by doing what feels good to you.
for your own sake
Secondly, I believe that everyone should follow their hearts for the sake of themselves. Caring for yourself. It is an important aspect of life that some quite easily forget sometimes.
“You can’t take care of anyone else unless you first take care of yourself.”
Michael Hyatt, Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want
I believe that what Michael says here is quite inspiring, has been relatable and remains valuable for me personally. I tend to forget myself in the big picture sometimes. Choosing some debatable life choices and getting influenced too much by others. Sometimes it is good to reflect. Is what I am choosing to do the thing I truly love to do? Is this the thing I want to do? In other, more hurting words: Do I have control over my life, or do I let others influence my life too much to the point where I don’t like my own life anymore?
For both emotional well-being and personal fulfilment reasons, I think it is good to reflect upon your own life sometimes. And evaluate, together with your heart, what is best for you and what feels good to you. And then just do it! What is stopping you from living the life you truly want?
connections with others
Finally, the third reason why I think you should follow your heart is because following your heart will bring you in contact with the right things and people. Doing the things you love and following what your heart tells you to do shapes the identity that truly fits you. You as a person. It is what makes you authentic as we talked about in the first paragraph. The underlying effect that this has is that it will attract the things that suit you. Being your true self and being able to portray this identity to the rest of the world will work as a magnet. A magnet for people like you. People with similar hearts and similar intents. People that you might find inspiring in your own way. And might evolve who you are or even what your heart tells you to do.
Take a similar interest and intention within that interest. Like becoming a professional fisher. If this is what you truly want and your heart says to pursue this. You will find that once you embark on this journey you will discover a lot of people, who you might even already know, with a similar passion as you. And this might even help you in becoming a better fisher, as they can teach you some of the fine techniques they learned on the way. And vice versa.
In conclusion, I would say that following your heart will change your life for the better. Even if some decisions may seem (morally) wrong. In the end, these are the things you truly want and crave. And postponing these feelings may only hurt you more in the future.