From famous quotes and song lyrics, to words of advice and the guiding life stories of others, we are told again and again to listen to our hearts, to follow our hearts, to be directed by our hearts.
Apparently the heart knows best; and if we follow the heart’s instinct over the mind’s logic, we are set for success. Personally, I’ve chosen to believe my heart over logic. “The heart has eyes which the brain knows nothing of” in the apt words of Charles H. Perkhurst.
But can our hearts lead us astray? The blatant truth is that yes, it can! François de La Rochefoucauld tells us that “the heart is forever making the head its fool”. Another profound insight is that “the human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
Our hearts sometimes desire things which we know – if we practise rational thinking – are just not plausible or even possible. Sometimes, what our hearts crave is just plain wrong! That’s not to say that dreams and ambitions are wrong, it’s just that each situation we encounter warrants a bit more of a combination approach: listening to our heart AND that of logical thought.
I’ve fallen in love with men that I knew were not right for me, pursued relationships in full knowledge that they were doomed to failure, trusted people despite the facts … and in short, have made many bad decisions that could’ve easily been avoided if I didn’t just follow my heart blindly.
The moral of the story is to “follow your heart – but take your brain with you.” (unknown author)
Related articles
- The Worst Advice Ever (lelightoftheworld.wordpress.com)
- Follow Your Heart- Not so fast! (gwendolynndedanaan.wordpress.com)
- Follow Your Heart (findyourparadigm.com)
Tagged: Decision making, Emotional decisions, Follow your heart, Heart, Listen to your heart, Logic, Love, Rational thinking
You know, I keep forgetting that take your brain part. Nice balance between really following what’s in your heart and letting your brain get in the way of reaching for your dreams. Thanks!
I think we all forget the “take your brain with” part :D Thanks for the comment!