How Open is Your Heart?

Have you ever been in a heated discussion with someone and thought, "How can this person be so close-minded!?" I know I have! The funny thing is, I'm sure that person thinks the same thing about me.

In any case, I'd like to pose the idea that true open-mindedness can only come from having an open heart. And my guess is that many of us don't have as open of a heart as we would like.

What happens is that throughout your life, various painful events will occur, and the natural reaction to feeling hurt is to build up a wall around your heart.

For example, when I was around 8, I ran to my sister and exclaimed, "I love you!!" She looked at me blankly and walked away. Of course, I was deeply hurt (and this story probably sounds awful, but my sister really is wonderful, she's just not as verbally expressive as I am). I ran to my dad and said, "She won't say I love you!" Of course, he immediately forced her to say it back and the robotic answer was completely dissatisfying.

Anyway, I was super dejected and my takeaway from the situation was to never say “I love you” first ever again. And I didn't say it again until about 10 years later.

That was a wall I built around my heart. Sad right? But this is what we do to protect ourselves - we close off our hearts, even if it's not the healthiest way to handle an upsetting event. 

The problem with building walls around your heart is that you tend to become cold, rigid, get bitter, get thrown off balance, and more. However, the worst damage is when you start thinking that closed off person is your true self! For years, I thought I was just not an affectionate person, but really, it was just my subconscious protecting me from getting hurt. This is how we start losing connection to our authentic selves.

So the big question is, how can you open up your heart? How can you unload all the baggage you've been carrying around and get out of your animal brain so that love and abundance can pour in?

By connecting with your heartspace. By learning how to follow your heart once again. By breaking down those walls and allowing yourself to be vulnerable. But you can only do all these things when you love yourself. When you are confident in being loved, then vulnerability becomes merely a mild obstacle. Rejection is no longer is a personal attack.

We truly are happiest when we are open, confident, full of self love, and love for others (sounds nice right). We are unhappy when we get stuck in our animal brains, always protecting and furtively anticipating the next bad thing to happen (sounds bad right). 

We you start following your heart, you are making a conscientious intention to live by higher emotions like love, gratitude, hope rather than the lower emotions of fear, guilt, greed, cynicism. And the more you connect with your heart and your authentic self, the less those lower emotions appeal to you. The more you are able to turn away from them and make decisions that are truly for your higher good. This openness is what allows abundance to pour in.

Check out my signature course, Heartspace Journey Academy, to start your journey of self discovery.