Revealing Heart

"The heart does not lie." - Vittorio Alfieri

Our true self is revealed by the actions of our heart.

No more true does this happen then when we have difficult times in our life.

In Sanskrit, the “heart” is referred to as Hridayam which means, “Here is the Center”. Hridayam or the Heart in this definition is thought of as the center of our existence. In ancient Eastern texts and scriptures, the heart is talked about in the context of physical health, mental health, spiritual health and vitality.

It is rare if ever we ask, “What is in your brain?”.

It is possible we might ask, “What is on your mind?”

Neither of these statements have the warmth of asking “What is in your heart?”

If we ask someone, “what is in your heart,” we are looking for true and direct communication with the other person. You might call this having a "heart to heart talk.” Which means having an open, truthful and mutually respectful conversation.

It is said the term heart literally means truth.

When we want to know the truth, we go to the heart of the matter. When I say to someone, “I want to speak my heart”, it means I want to speak my truth. I want to give my true feelings.

Jill Sweetman, Counselor and Life Coach, has said "Tough times expose our true heart." This is true and the nature of our heart is less surprising if we examine our own heart. It means looking inside and understanding what and who we are.

One's true heart will reveal itself eventually.

More times than not it does so during times when we are having difficulty. If your true heart is weak and hard, there is work to do in order to strengthen it. We prepare ourselves by understanding who we are. And it is our heart which reveals the true person inside of us.

Stay inspired my friends!

Storms Reveal

"Storms reveal what a sunny day conceals." - Jill Sweetman

When the day begins, I get into my car and drive off down the road to work. In the breaking morning light, I look to the sky in order to get a sense of what the weather will be that day. I have done this from my early days of being raised on a farm. Over the course of my many years, I have learned to appreciate and curse what awaits over the horizon.

I could look to a weather forecast the day or days before and make a judgement on what kind of day might be in store. But I would rather wait upon the change, the gathering light in the morning, to see what is revealed.

Many times, if the day starts out sunny and mild, the expectation of a great day sets the mood for many of us. We tend to be more pleasing to others and in our attitude. When things are going well such as family, work and other parts of our lives; our true ability to weather a storm is easily concealed.

But when weather is bad, when 'storms' in life come along, our true nature can be revealed.

Think of your morning drive to work. If storms are filling the early day with rain, wind and miserable conditions, do you allow your spirits to dampen? If you do, those feelings will translate into stress, shortness with others and just a lousy attitude.

If you learn to accept the rain and adjust your own reaction to it, the drive isn't so bad. Your attitude can bring a certain amount of 'sunshine' into the gloominess of a rainy day. Very easy for me to state the obvious, but you need to examine your own attitude when things are bad.

When things are going well, it is easy to be positive about things. It is easy to be nice, friendly and helpful to others.

Yet when things are not going so well in your life, this will be the true measure of your inner attitude.

Stay strong, stay positive, stay happy and stay inspired my friends!

Your Crisis

"A crisis will reveal who we really are in life. Pressure squeezes out the reality of us. But it also allows us to learn and change what is revealed." -Dean Sweetman

It will happen eventually. There will be a time when crisis comes into your life. Money, relationship, health or any number of things could give rise to stop you in your tracks. Each will have varying degrees of pain or suffering for different people.

Who you are as a person will come to the surface when it happens. Are you good at handling each crisis. Can you see through it and find a way to overcome? Or will you crumble either in desperation or anger, only to worsen an already bad situation?

I have seen people crumble in the face of pain. I have crumbled in the face of pain. What I eventually came to was a decision point. It was the proverbial "fork in the road" point of life that presented me with two choices. They are basically the same two choices each of us face.

One is to sit and do nothing, forever wallowing in despair until our time is over. The second one is to stand up and get moving on with life. Changing our life in order to overcome our current circumstance and to better prepare ourselves for any future challenges that may come along.

It may sound simple. A "left or right", "yes or no", "stay or go" answer is all that is needed. But it can be the hardest choice you'll ever make.

Choose to move on, find ways to inspire yourself. The road is littered with those that gave up. Choose not to be one of them.

Stay inspired my friends!

Storms Revealed

"Storms reveal what a sunny day conceals." -Jill Sweetman

When the day begins, I get into my car and drive off down the road to work. In the breaking morning light, I look to the sky in order to get a sense of what the weather is going to be like. Since I was raised on the farm, I've learned to appreciate and curse what awaits over the horizon.

I may look to a weather forecast and judge what kind of day it might be, but I would rather wait upon the change. If the day starts out sunny and mild, the expectation of a great day sets the mood for many of us. We tend to be more pleasing to others and in our attitude.

When things are going well such as family, work and other aspects of our lives; our true ability to weather a storm is easily concealed. There is an old phrase that goes, "when the going gets tough, the tough get going." In many respects that phrase is about determination to overcome. But when the going gets tough, when the 'storms' in your life occur, our true nature is revealed.

Think again of the morning drive into work. If storms are filling the early day with rain, wind and miserable conditions, do you allow your spirits to be dampened. When you do, it will translate into stress, shortness with others and just a lousy attitude.

If you learn to accept the rain and adjust your own reaction to it, the drive isn't so bad. Your own attitude can bring a certain 'sunshine' into the gloominess of a rainy day. Very easy for me to state the obvious, but you need to examine your own attitude when things are bad.

When things are going well, it is easy to be positive about things. Yet when things are going not so well in your life, this will be the true measure of your inner attitude.

Stay inspired my friends.