From the moment we wake up in the morning to the moment we fall into exhausted sleep, most of us are confronted with so many challenges: social, psychological, ecological, and economic, Given the current troubles of the world economy, the harmful effects to global climate change, the occurrence of natural disasters and epidemic illnesses, and the persistence of acts of violence by individuals and groups, the world in which we find ourselves can seem like a ticking time bomb, moments away from exploding. Our interior lives, meanwhile, mirror the various dysfunctions of the external world.
We’ve become experts at multitasking the possibilities of disaster _ Our minds work like perpetual news channels, complete with big windows showing the main story of the moment, side windows showing stock and weather reports, and “crawlers” providing the latest, often sensational updates. Or is it the other way around? Could the trauma evident on the world Stage reflect a fractured internal image -?a conflict been our longing for well-being and the fear, loneliness, and despair we acquire when someone or some situation inflicts a wound upon our hearts that seems impossible to heal?
As human beings. We find ourselves in an uncomfortable position Of balancing thoughts, feelings, and actions over which we can acknowledge some conscious control. And mental, emotional, and behavioral habits formed by factors beyond conscious awareness. For many of us this discomfort feels as though we’re living a double life. A shadow seems to stalk us, a self behind the personality we consciously acknowledge and present to the world. Identifying and coming to terms with this shadow, for most of us, can be an unsettling experience.
But the process does have its upside. A shadow is projected by some source of light, and by recognizing and acknowledging our shadow selves we can begin to trace a path toward the light. Discovering this light is a gradual and deeply personal process through which we begin to see the causes and consequences of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors more brightly and vividly than we might previously have done. Wherever you are in your life journey, you are not alone. We want to meet you there and help guide you to verge you want to be.
Open Minds, Open Hearts Counseling Center integrates traditional psychotherapy tit behavioral therapy to help you create life goals leading you to heal mind, body and spirit. Treatment specialties Offered to children, adolescents and adults struggling with life challenges and transitions. Getting your mind to rule over your heart is a common theme in Jewish teachings. It’s also horribly misunderstood. Most people, when they hear about the mind ruling over the heart, imagine a cold, calculated and stuck-up neurotic. After all, the mind is all those things.
Wouldn’t we much rather live with the vivacious, freedom-loving heart’so we have to explain that when the mind is ruling the heart, it does not mean that the mind is at the top of the chain of command. Nobody wants the mind in charge-?you’d never get anything done. The mind may be great at solving puzzles, but it’s an incompetent idiot venue it comes to real life. Rather, the mind is meant to be but a conduit for the soul. You see, the soul, being beyond the body, has a higher suasion_ It also has some great ideas to express. But the soul needs to get the body involved in that vision and those ideas.
And it knows he only way that can happen is by inspiring the hear Problem is, the soul is just too big for that little heart to contain. So when the soul makes a direct-line connection to the heart, the heart is overwhelmed. Sure, it may catch fire and burn Wild for a while. But then it’s all over and forgotten. That’s where the mind fits in. The mind has to reach up to the soul and catch some of its higher vision. Then chews on that vision until it becomes real enough that the heart, as well, can relate to it. That’s the point we call Data. Roughly translated as “realization
The point of, “Yeah! It really is that way! ” That’s the point where the heart kicks in, with lasting inspiration. It’s the mind that gets the heart to that place. To make this more real: Let’s say you’re a musician. You know your inspiration doesn’t come from the mind–it comes from somewhere beyond that, gut a lot of the time, it doesn’t come at all. Your mind has to open up, tune in to something beyond itself. Then the juices flow and you can play with your heart. But, on the other hand, all the time you are playing, you have to keep that mind in gear.
If it elides out of the clutch and the heart takes over alone, the depth of the music is lost. Like jazz musicians say, you have to stay cool. That’s what we call “mind over heart. ” Okay, let’s say you’re not a musician. Blitz maybe you like playing football. The same dynamics apply: If your heart is not into it, it just anti goanna work. But if you let your heart go wild, you’re not going to be on the league for too long. So some people lose the mind and get caught up in the heart. Others forget about the heart and become wrapped up in the mind. Neither way is good.
The point is o get the soul to express itself in the heart by reaching through the mind. Getting this mind-heart thing down is not easy. First of all, during your initial exposure to life-?known as childhood-you are basically an emotional animal, with little chance that the mind will have control of anything. Secondly, even once you grow up, the whole world is out to make you “just react” to their stimuli. After all, as long as you have control over your own brain and heart, it’s kind of hard to closely stuff you don’t need and get you to work all those extra hours to pay for it.
Most of the world feels much better if you leave them the keys to your brain and heart and just take a quiet place in the back seat, thank you. So reclaiming your brain and heart for yourself is an upstream battle. Definite is one of those mitzvahs that provides a major boost to your forces. Take a few moments in the midst of the morning rush to put on definite and say the Schema. Then, during your day, remind yourself about who’s in charge. That you don’t have to give in to every whim of the heart, That you’re higher than that, That you have a mind and a soul-?all your own.
