During a guided meditation last week the guide asked us to consider whether our decisions are coming from fear, ego or love. I expanded this question to not only decisions but other actions as well. She then went on to ask, for each one, are you operating from your head, heart or gut. For the mathematically inclined, this gives us 9 possible combinations.
Some quick definitions:
Fear: When you act out of fear, it’s usually to avoid pain. Fear can hide behind rationalization, so be sure to check in with yourself. For example, if you take a job you don’t really want because there are not a lot of jobs out there, that’s fear hiding behind a story you tell yourself.
Ego: Ego refers to your sense of self-worth. Are you acting out a desire to make yourself more feel important? I’ve started questioning myself on my love of reading. Do I want to read this book because I enjoy it or do I want to know more than other people? With a vehicle purchase, ask yourself, “Do I love this car because I love it, or because it makes me look cool?”
Love: Love is a place without pretense. When actions come from a place of love it means that they are a pure desire to deepen the love for yourself and those around you. Joseph Campbell wrote about “finding your bliss”. Doing things from a place of love will get you closer to your bliss.
Head: When you act from your head you are thinking intellectually. The head is logical, rational and weighs things without emotion.
Heart: The heart is the place of feeling. When you act from the heart it can be positive or negative. Acting out of anger comes from the heart, right along with empathy.
Gut: The gut is a place of intuition. When you take action or make decisions from the gut, your intuition is telling you something and you follow it.
I thought about where I spend most of my time. I know that I generally spend a lot of time in service of my life’s work, in my head, thinking and learning. I believe that most of that time is from a place of Love, but perhaps some of the time is Ego.
I remembered a meeting I’d had the other day and realized that I had spent most of the meeting in the Ego-Head space. I felt like my credibility was being challenged and I went right into proving how good-right-smart-capable I am. And I was sooo right. But the funny thing was that my perceptiveness of the room went way down. After the meeting, I realized that something unsaid was going on, but I missed the opportunity to pick up on what it was because I was caught up in my own stuff.
Try this...pay attention this week to which area on the graph you spend your time in. What do you notice? Let us know!
