The other weekend I was reminded of what it is like to follow one's heart completely.
My 15 month-old nephew, Finn, came to visit for the weekend.
He was so much fun to be around because of his non-stop ball of excitement, curiosity, love and happiness.
All he wanted to do was experience joy.
At whatever cost! It reminded me of what we all are seeking in life.
The difference is Finn hasn't learned to stop listening to his heart.
He still uses it fully.
He hasn't been taught that intellect and knowledge are more valued in our society than emotions and feelings.
And yet your emotions and feelings is your inner guidance system...
your intuition...
your gut instincts.
So how do you relearn to use what you have been taught to ignore? You listen! The Power of Listening One of the best skills you can claim is the power of listening.
When you are a powerful listener, you hear what others do not.
You understand what really is being communicated.
The good news is you already have everything it takes to be a powerful listener.
Remember a time you got together with someone and afterward you thought to yourself, "wow, that person was such a great listener!"?? And remember how good it felt to be completely understood and appreciated by that person? What made the experience so great was the other person's ability to completely focus and listen to everything you were saying, and not saying.
You felt the connection of energy and emotions between the two of you.
And you probably felt excited, passionate, focused, and riveted to that experience.
All of their senses were focused on you.
That was powerful listening you experienced! And that is a gift! Listening vs.
Hearing Notice that listening doesn't really have a lot to do with the ears.
Hearing and listening are completely different skill sets.
Hearing does not take nearly as much focus, effort, or even attention as listening does.
When your ears are "on", you hear the words and sounds coming in.
Your brain then interprets those sounds.
And this is different than listening, which uses all of your senses.
With listening, particular attention is paid to the feeling and emotional aspects of the other person.
It requires focus, connection, energy, and concentration.
The gift in having a powerful listening is the ability to understand what is really being communicated.
Not just the words! We all know people, for example, who don't necessarily say what they mean.
Your Heart-- the Greatest Source for Answers This power of listening is magnified exponentially when you apply it to yourself.
We all have examples of how following our intuition (or gut instincts) have had amazing results.
This is your heart talking to you.
For it is your heart that completely understands who you are as a person, your likes, wants and desires.
It is the only thing completely connected to you and is there as your powerful guide...
if you chose to use it.
Listening to Self How do we listen to our heart? Through our emotions, not intellect.
Your heart speaks to you through your feelings.
When you are feeling good, your heart is telling you that what you are thinking about or doing is in alignment with what you are wanting.
When you feel bad, your heart is telling you it is not in alignment with what you are wanting.
And when we re-learn to trust our heart and listen for its answers as we ask ourselves the question of "why...
?", watch out, because the answer comes extremely powerfully...
every time! Just like young Finn.