Leading From the Heart

I started this week's post by typing a pep talk to myself in hopes that inspiration would strike for today's topic.  Once I wrote the next five words, I had it figured out:

"Just write what you feel."

Zap!  It hit me like a lightening bolt.  The rest flew tirelessly.

What you feel is right.

Because feelings come from inside.  They come from the heart.  They are real desires of the spirit.

If I wrote what I thought I should, I would be guided by society's expectations of me.  Enough people do that.  I don't want to do it too.  It does not inspire me.  It does not seem real.

I have spent the last year undergoing a transformation in my life.  I didn't take any mystical classes.  I didn't read any specific authors religiously.  I didn't get advice from a counselor.

I simply started feeling.

I started listening to my heart.

At first, I doubted my heart a lot.  Because my heart didn't always make sense.  It didn't conform to the norms of civilization.  It wanted me to do things that seemed idiotic to other people.  Even to me.  Prompting me to make big, difficult decisions and stick with them.  

But I felt I had to make them.

Otherwise I couldn't eat.  

That is how strong my heart, my soul, my purpose was crying out to me.  To think (notice the word think, and not feel) that I could go back to the easy, more acceptable way of living made me nauseous.  I lost 14 pounds last fall because my heart and mind were in such a battle.

Luckily, my heart won.

And here I am, continuing to share its ever-beating glory with you.

You might think I am crazy, but that's okay.  Last year, I would have thought this was crazy talk too.  But once I started feeling, I embraced the beautiful changes that were happening in my life.  That were happening around me.  That were happening to Braeden as he sensed my peace.

And the latter was enough to confirm that I was on the right track.  Okay, that and the fact that I could eat solid food again.

It should come as no surprise that Brady P. is a feeler.  He acts from his heart.  Well, he is at the egocentric stage of development right now, but overall, that is how he operates.   And once he entered my life, he emanated that.  I had no choice but to follow his lead or I would be ignoring the greatest gift I had ever been given.

The gift of a teacher of love.  The gift of a son who is basically cognitively unable to conform to the norms of society.  Even as he ages, a more selfish, inhibited, even cold way of life will not be able to route into his neurological pathways.

That extra chromosome is a gift.  It keeps him true to himself.  And in turn, he is true to others. 

I want to share this video with you.  I hope you watch it because it illustrates my point so beautifully, and the star of it is a man with Down syndrome.  The first person with Downs to own his own restaurant, in fact.  

Not just any restaurant, but the friendliest restaurant.  Ever.  Because the owner, Tim, greeted every person who entered, whether he knew them or not.  And gave people hugs, as warm as Brady P. does.  He pursued his dreams by following his heart and changed his path when something pulled his heart into a different direction.

I challenge you not to cry while watching.  I can't personally not cry, but the subject is certainly dear to me.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH!

As the old saying goes, "You can't stop love!"  Especially in someone who leads with their heart.