Last night, I was having a hard time falling asleep. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of books with heavy messages. Working out right before bed, whether it’s your heart or your brain, isn’t the best idea.

I had just finished The Alchemist, a simple and beautiful novel that follows a boy in his eventful pursuit of his ‘personal legend,’ or calling. One of the life lessons he learns along the way is the importance of listening to one’s heart. His heart is active and keeping him from rest, as he nears realizing his legend. So, he decides to tune in to his heart and ask it what it is feeling.

His heart is afraid of the suffering that might come if he does not realize his dreams, to which the boy replies that “the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.” Soon thereafter, his heart calms down and he falls into the nourishing rest he needs.

I decided to give this exercise a try last night, to really listen to what my heart had to say. Here’s what it told me:

Be careful with yourself. You’ve blamed yourself so much in this life for feeling sad. 

You are getting stronger every day. But things will get harder, especially as you follow your personal legend. You have unfinished business to attend to in your romantic life, but don’t push yourself. There’s nothing you need to do by any certain deadline. Continue to feel, to learn, to trust in the world, and to grow.

You’ve understood the importance of growth from an early age; you hung your favorite necklace above your headboard as a young woman, which had the symbol for growth engraved on it. 

Now you are really getting it. You are hurt, but not for too much longer. Work through that scar tissue. There is magnificence in your future.

What does your heart tell you?

With courage, love, and intensity,

Kristen

Photo credit: BEYOURPET / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND