“Follow Your Heart,” They Said. “It’ll Be Fun,” They Said.

I can’t count how many times I’ve messed up this whole “follow your heart” thing. I don’t know about you, but I’ve recently discovered that when I’ve followed my heart, I was actually following my ego. And by the results of my “follow my heart” decisions, I really should’ve figured this out sooner.

But I’m a believer that it all had to happen just as it did to bring me right here and right now. So now I’m working on knowing what my intuition feels like so I can follow it. And I think I’ve uncovered some of the subtle differences which may shed some light on how to recognize and follow your intuition. Incidentally, I’m pretty sure, this is what “they” actually mean when they say, “follow your heart.” So let’s start by clarifying the differences.

So What’s Your Heart Following?

It seems that if we are following our hearts, there must be something that our hearts are following. But what is it? Sure, you can tell yourself that your heart is being led by some magical emotional sensation that you’re experiencing, which is actually just a temporary emotion based on your mood and interactions. Better known as your ego. Or you can consider that your heart is actually being led by your gut feeling. The reaction given by your inner wisdom.

Understanding this is how I’m coming to better recognize, appreciate, and follow my intuition. Instead of ignoring it.

But Deep Down

When there’s a temporary burst of feel good chemicals because of excitement it’s pretty easy to bury our gut feelings. We may even tell ourselves that our gut feeling is a symptom of how we were raised or some other excuse. But these are just the perfect teases our ego uses when it wants some excitement. When it wants to push some boundaries. Deep down, it feels wrong, but right now, it feels so. damn. right.

So we override our gut feeling and tell ourselves that we’re being true to our wild and carefree hearts. The truth is, we just bury the gut feeling for awhile to get our kicks. Right up until it becomes our “deep down I always knew.”

Go With Your Gut, It’s the Only Way

For years I’ve been “following my heart.” Which seems to actually have been the “long route” to my goals. So now I’m going to go with my gut. Because I truly can see how going with my gut is the real way to follow my heart. It’s listening to that first reaction and becoming an observer of our thoughts and feelings. It’s also deepening our understanding of the difference between feelings and emotions. And deepening our understanding of ourselves and who we truly are. Your intuition will never steer you wrong. Because it is actually how our higher selves guide us to the lives we’ve been visualizing.

And while my ego is already telling me that I may miss out on some things I’d really enjoy, I’m absolutely positive that I’ll let myself indulge in some of the more magical sensations of life. Ride the high, as I’ve said before, but be open to the logic when it serves itself up.