Surrender Your Mind to Your Heart

Recently, my smart and funny sister declared that she was retiring her mind. She had gone through  a painful period of confusion about something very important to her, and in the midst of it she suddenly realized that her own mind was creating the confusion. She had been entertaining all kinds of thoughts that were irrelevant or unhelpful, or both. Since then, “retire the mind” has been our catch-phrase to remind ourselves, and each other, that we’re overthinking.

To be more precise, though, the mind isn’t causing the problem. Fear is. A mind conditioned in fear, as our minds have been conditioned in separation consciousness, is a mind that overthinks, overanalyzes, overreacts and overassumes (if I may create a new word here). It causes needless confusion and anxiety. In contrast, a mind conditioned in love, which is the essence and foundation of unity consciousness, remains open and still until called into action by love .

How love calls the mind into action is through our heartfelt desires, our wise inner guidance, our innocent, in-the-moment impulses, our spontaneous responses to delightful synchronicities and opportunities, and more. Love speaks to us through the energy of life, itself. This energy contains all the intelligence, power and direction we require to realize its intentions.

And so, as we shift from separation consciousness to unity consciousness, we shift from relying on fear-based analytical thinking to the love-based sensing of energy, which our minds can then translate into specific thoughts expressed through language, if needed. There’s a far greater appreciation and respect for intuitive knowing, which leads to trust in its wisdom. We often move from knowing to action without any need for language-based thought. We simply follow the energy of life that’s moving through us in every moment.

This requires that we further develop our abilities to sense energy, yet we’re already sensing much more than we’ve allowed ourselves to trust and act on. So for now, simply intend to become more aware of what you’re sensing, what you already know feels “right” to you, right now (and what doesn’t), and what you already know in your heart of hearts. A great way to experiment with this is when you have a decision to make – or more precisely, when you think you have a decision to make.

I offer you this simple guideline: if a choice you’re considering (and possibly trying to wrestle to the ground) isn’t clear, there is no choice to be made in this moment. Chances are, it’s a “choice” your mind made up in an attempt to control the future by projecting forward and deciding things ahead of time. Our future is not meant to be controlled, it’s meant to be lived fully – joyfully – moment by moment.

Even if the choice represents something that feels genuine to you, a lack of clarity about it reveals that you are entertaining doubts about what your heart is telling you. And that means that right now is not the time to decide. Choices are meant to be, and to feel like, the natural next step. You deserve to feel clear and wonderful about your choices, not hesitant or worried. Give yourself a little extra time to quiet your mind and feel into the wisdom of your heart. 

Intend for this to be ease-filled, and know that you are already fully capable of making this shift in choice-making, if you haven’t already. Yes, fear- and scarcity-based thoughts may still surface, but you’ll know by how you feel in those moments where they are coming from. And you’ll remember that you didn’t come here to live in fear. 

You came here to be, to joyfully experience, and to generously express the Love that you ARE.

Photo courtesy of Kathleen Quigley (kathleenquigley.com)