Take Care Of Your Heart
Do you know the myth of Chiron? Chiron was an immortal centaur renowned for his healing powers, but he suffered a wound that, despite all his efforts, would not heal. In the end, his only escape from agony was to give up his immortality.
One moral of this story is that we’re not here to heal all our wounds. We’re here to live fully before we die.
The Buddha taught that whenever you see a sunrise or sunset, you should contemplate the possibility that it might be your last. In other words, it would be nice to fulfill all our desires and find closure in all our relationships, but we don’t have time. We have to start living now.
In AA, they sometimes say, “Fuck your feelings.” Perhaps that’s too harsh. Feelings are a beautiful and important part of life. But the point, I think, is that if your feelings lead you to take a drink and drive off a bridge, you can’t say obeying them was worth it.
My teacher often says, “The heart is not a feeling.” Anger, sadness, and jealousy may offer important information as we travel through life, but we’re searching for something deeper, something we may have known best as children: the delight of being alive.
In my coaching sessions, I encourage my clients to listen to their feelings without ceding authority to them. When anger toward someone or sadness over what has failed arises, I invite them to ask: Where are these feelings taking me? And do I have time to go there?
The Buddha compared caring for the heart to a mother protecting her only child, even at the risk of her life.
Take care of your heart. That’s your first and last priority.
As always, if you’d like to be held through your own process, reach out and we’ll set up a free coaching call.
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