Feelings or thoughts – heart or mind?
Who is the better advisor when it comes to important decisions in life – the heart or the mind? Opinions differ on this question. One tends to make rational decisions, the other swears by gut feelings. It’s best to take a closer look at their own qualifications.
The mind
It is often frowned upon for its compliant and fun arguments. It has its strengths. It counters, remembers what it has learned or experienced, and weighs things up. In practice, it looks like this:
“A 34-year-old Simone has longed for a partner who would share suffering and joy with her.
When Nils burst into her life a few weeks ago, she thought she had finally found the one. After a night of boozing with lots of vows of love, her heart literally raced with happiness. In the meantime, she got to know Nils a little better and realized that he had a night of partying and that he placed his freedom above everything else.
Simone’s mind intervenes and makes her aware that a partnership with Nils does not match her values and future aspirations. The constant thought of it urges them to take care of their own needs and end the relationship with Nils.”
The heart
In earlier times, this was often disregarded as a guide. People often got married out of pure reason and not out of love. In the meantime, the voice of the heart has established itself. People not only want to make good decisions but also want to feel good about them. And the heart, which communicates what it desires through feelings, is exactly the right assistant for this.
An example of this:
If the woman meets a man today who fulfills all the rational criteria that are placed on a good partner, it does not mean that she will throw herself at his neck. For now, wait and see what the feeling says. And if the tingling sensation in the belly or the fascination does not set in, the modern woman likes to listen to her belly and simply leaves the apparent dream man to someone else.
The heart has its reasons that reason does not know.
Is it really like that? I think so. Both heart and mind are equipped with a huge space. Both of them save experiences. If we now have to make a decision, both of them advise us equally. However, they are not always in agreement. Why is that?
When the heart speaks, it draws on emotional experiences. Often these are so deep that we are not even rationally aware of them. Expression gives the heart its point of view through feelings. Because we are aware but not clear what is behind the feelings, the mind cannot worry about it. It knows nothing about the wisdom of our hearts. So it focuses on the factual level and tries to draw logical conclusions. It is, therefore, clear that the heart actually has reasons that the mind does not know.
What if heart and mind argue?
But sometimes decisions are so complex that we don’t know who to listen to. In this case, the following procedure helps:
- Imagine how you make decision A. Go into the future in your imagination. What impact could this decision have? Experience your future, and see how you feel about it.
- You then do the same with decision B.
- Then it is still necessary to determine whether there is also decision C. Nothing is black or white. Perhaps there is also a possibility to agree on A and B, or leave them out altogether and take a completely different path.
- If you can think of a possibility, C, also play through it mentally and observe how you feel.
- I can save myself the last step because your gut feeling has probably already given you the answer. Where your feelings are the strongest and most positive, the right decision probably lies.
With this method, the mind enables a logical approach, and the heart decides where it feels better. When in doubt, it is better to listen to the heart rather than the voice of reason.
Learn to balance reason and emotion to achieve much more
Intuition is a form of intelligence, a combination of reason and emotion that can help us make more truthful decisions. It is always there, speaking softly, but sometimes we are too distracted to listen. So we’ve made a list of 10 simple and practical ways for you to understand your intuition and follow your heart:
1. Listen to your body, mind, and heart
Our bodies usually send subtle messages, like a cold in the belly or a beating heart. They are small signals that our body gives when we react to everything that happens around us. We don’t need to act on every sign, but we must allow ourselves to feel each one. But be careful, pay attention to see if the feelings are really yours, or if you are simply reacting to other people’s feelings.
2. Look at your past
Do you know those moments in life that we would like to have the chance to go back in time, to do everything differently? Learning from past mistakes and regrets helps you improve your decisions in the future. So it is healthy to do and redo mental retrospectives to try to identify the signs we saw, but we decided to ignore them. When these signs appear again, your intuition will be there to help you make better choices.
3. Face your fears
Pen and paper in hand (ok, it could be the cell phone). Make a list of everything you’re afraid of, even the most insignificant things. Choose one of them and face it. This exercise shows that sometimes our minds overdo it and that our hearts are stronger than we think. How about following the heart and facing what we try to avoid? That difficult conversation, an important decision. After all, we avoid what we fear.
4. Make room for reflection
Intuition is that voice that speaks softly. So low that it is impossible to hear it in noisy environments. Take time to enjoy the silence and listen to what your body, mind, and heart say to you. It can be meditating, praying, taking a nature walk, practicing yoga, or having tea while listening to music that brings you peace. The important thing is to choose a calm, pleasant, and quiet place.
5. Daydream
We don’t value the benefits of daydreaming, and we miss it a lot. In our dreams, we are really free to feel and wish, without obstacles or real consequences. Daydreaming is like watching a movie of your own life. Do you want to throw everything up to open your business? Give yourself time to imagine how your routine would change and what your new achievements would be. Daydreaming gives you more strength and energy to face the obstacles of real life.
6. Go back to your favorite hobby
Remember when you were a child and the day flew by while you played? When was the last time you did an activity and lost track of time? How about finding some time to empty your mind and get in touch with your feelings? It is worth singing, dancing, painting, or putting on a boxing glove and sweating a lot. There is no lighter and more fun way to restore our energies and make our hearts lighter.
7. Defeat the criticism that lives within you
Do you know that inner voice that insists that you are not good enough and that other people deserve more than you? Self-criticism is here to help us avoid unnecessary risks, but it may also be preventing you from following your heart to make it happen. To defeat the inner voice, start paying attention every time it appears and question whether each statement of it is not preventing you from hearing what your heart really wants.
8. Realize persistent opportunities
Sometimes new opportunities keep coming when we are not paying attention. It could be a course, a book or even a person who seems to be interesting, but as we are very busy, we don’t give a damn. When your intuition wants to talk to you, it tries to get your attention with new opportunities. Be ready to listen to them.
9. Yes or no?
Do you know that decision you’ve been postponing for a while? Stop asking questions with a million answers and write a question on paper that can be answered with a yes or no. Ideally, the question should prompt you to take action. So, instead of writing, “Don’t I like my boss?” Write “Should I quit?”. Then write yes or no under the question. Give yourself time, and then take the paper. Close your eyes for a moment and, when you open them, circle the answer without thinking.
10. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes
The decisions that bring the most satisfaction are the ones that we fear the most. But every now and then, even the decisions that seem to be the right ones can go wrong. And the truth is that making mistakes is part of life, and that’s how we learn. Intuition-based decisions tend to improve as we gain more experience. Don’t let yourself be shaken; analyze what worked and what didn’t then follow your heart.
How do the heart people who follow their hearts do it?
You create a space in your head. Because when the constant stream of thoughts subsides, the language of the heart gradually becomes audible. They have followed a spiritual path because they connect with their true selves and thus benefit from possibilities that are far beyond the possibilities of the mind.
In order not only to hear the language of the heart but also to be able to distinguish it from conditioned thoughts, constant awareness, and life after a feeling is an advantage.
Some people confuse their intuition with the language of their minds. The mind evaluates, compares, and judges. As soon as a feeling takes shape because it is connected to thoughts, it is the mind. The feeling of intuition is formless. It is a gentle and loving feeling of correctness that cannot be described in words. You can only feel it.
People of the heart live easier.
Whoever lives in mind cannot imagine how carefree and easy life based on intuition, gut feeling, and heart can be. All the evaluative and comparative thoughts come to an end—peace and relaxation return.
The power of thought is now used consciously and has much higher energy due to the bundling – thinking becomes more efficient. One only thinks what is really important, what really influences one’s life in a meaningful way. The fact is that we don’t have to think as much as we think. Intuition already provides a very reliable guide in life, and we just have to use it.
Have courage as soon as your heart speaks to you
Of course, every beginning is difficult. If you want to break out of your mind to listen to the language of your heart, you have to have courage and trust. Learning to meditate will help. The mind cannot explain what the heart tells you. The mind can only make decisions based on past experience, on mere information that we call our past. The heart is all-encompassing. It is the connection to the soul, to our higher self, that knows the way through our life.
Why listen to the heart?
Well, if you don’t miss anything, you don’t need to change anything. There was a feeling of dissatisfaction, fear, worry, senselessness, and imperfection that made one put all my courage together and listen to the uncertainty.
You become one with life and start listening to the signs. The reward for courage and trust is a success. While the mind used to cause a lot of stress because it did not understand life, things are regulated by heart as if by themselves.
Life starts to work for you. It not only gives you material and financial gifts but also sends you extremely nice and loving people who enrich your life. Your life becomes a vacation.
All you have to do is stop taking your mind so seriously. It is not fought and suppressed, but simply observed from a higher point of view. You also have the courage to do the incomprehensible and not have a problem with it if you are maybe a little different and stand out from the rest of the people.
The feeling of correctness as a guide through life
You have to listen to yourself and see if you discover a feeling that just feels right, nothing more. This sense of correctness is the guide through life. It is always a way into the unknown because life is about making new experiences.
If you follow your heart, you will realize yourself. You will always have to grow and learn. You have to constantly break new ground and be brave. This is what makes your life an adventure and inspires you.
So following the voice of correctness is the easiest way to realize yourself. That is the intuition—a quiet feeling of coherence. When making decisions, you can also feel it in your body. It is neither rational nor logical in the mathematical sense. Listening to the heart is the simplest logic of how to truly live your life.
To conclude:
Have the courage to go where your heart takes you! If your feelings tell you something is wrong, listen to it. Don’t let others and peer pressure take control of your life, forcing you to follow a path that is not yours. Do not hesitate to listen to your feelings. Listen to your heart, and you will always know what is right for you and what is wrong for you. Trust your intuition, your inner voice, and your body’s instincts.
The advice of the heart is available to everyone, everywhere and at any time. It can sometimes happen that dialogue with your heart is instigated, but the more experience you gain, the deeper your connection with your intuition will be.
