Paulo Coelho Quote on Listening To Your Heart

“You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it is better to listen to what it has to say.”
Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Beyond the Quote (52/365)

One of the greatest gifts I have received from my sister is the gift of a better connection to my own heart. I don’t know anybody that is more in tune with their heart and has followed their heart’s path than she. I see this now more than ever in how she has navigated some tough, unconventional life situations that didn’t have, well, conventional wisdom or many paths to refer to for help. When faced with unconventional situations that stray from a path that might be considered “normal,” many would try to suppress or escape from the feelings out of fear or anxiety and stick to the “norm” anyway—but not her. From as early as I can remember, she has listened to her heart even in the most challenging of times and has been able to make the tough decisions which have led her to the beautiful path she is on now. And what’s even more beautiful, is how this has manifested in her ability to help those around her too.

Because she is so in tune with her heart, she instinctively is able to help others get in tune with theirs and gives wonderfully refreshing advice—and I find that she is the type who gets asked for advice often. The predominant narrative that I usually find her directing is one that points the person’s focus inward and encourages them to find the answer(s) they’re looking for within. It’s as though she simply lays out the question for people that they so frequently miss: “What is your heart telling you?” In this way, she is usually able to help people get in tune with what they already know—many times without them even knowing it. For many, the voice of the heart has been ignored, silenced, or drowned out from the outside noise and can no longer be heard. And yet, after only a few minutes with her, the subtle whispers of the heart come back into awareness.

And don’t get it twisted, our hearts and bodies do, indeed, speak to us every day—some of us simply might not be paying close enough attention or might not know the language. Our body and our heart process subtle cues from our environment that sometimes surpass our conscious understanding and produce feelings, emotions, and nonverbal body language that can be interpreted as the language of the heart. Some of us, can intuitively pick up on those messages and can utilize that information in empowering ways—others might need more direct guidance. Things to pay attention to might be: nonverbal body language cues like facial expressions, feelings of resistance, aches or pains, etc; strong or lurking emotions like joy, hate, pleasure, disgust, engagement, discontent, etc; or even physical ailments like stomach aches, head aches, anxiety attacks, nausea, etc. to give you an idea. And what’s more is that this type of heart communication might be even more important to pay attention to than the type of communication that you might be getting from your mind.

Your mind is brilliant at running simulations and playing out different situations and potential action choices into the future so that you can eliminate those that play out the worst and you can select the simulation that plays out the best. This is a pivotal tool that saves all of us from many awful, rash decisions. The only problem with running these simulations is that if you don’t have all of the information—like the information that is being provided to you by your heart—you might run incomplete simulations and you may end up moving forward in a sub-optimal way. On the flip side, this is also why you don’t want to only listen to your heart because you need to be able to run those mental simulations in order to make the best decision(s) you can.

The important undertone however, is that I believe most of us are very much in tune with our minds—probably even too much to the point where we can’t get our minds to shut up! …And not to mention, our mind speaks to us in plain language after all. Many of us are simply not so in tune with our hearts because our hearts don’t speak in plain language—it speaks to us in nonverbal, emotional, subtle cues. When we can find this balance though—this heart-mind balance—we may find some of the thickly layered fog lifting from our path and we may be able to make more clear, confident decisions. I know my sister has helped me lift much of the fog from my path for sure. Tonight, in honor of my sister’s birthday, try quieting the mind and listening, instead, to the language of the heart. I think you’ll find that this practice will serve you quite well.

Happy last birthday as a twenty-something, Lianna. Thank you for everything and may your heart continue to show you the way. <3

This post became the introduction for: 22 Quotes on Following Your Heart (and How To Better Listen To What It Has To Say)