what it means to follow your heart

This is one of the most liberating choices you'll ever make, and one of the most difficult choices you’ll ever make.

When I began to lean into my heart’s truest desires, a lot of things stopped making sense, because the way I understood life was changing. It led to many nights where I cried myself to sleep and questioned everything that existed under the moon. It made me feel like I was going insane, like nothing was good enough, and I often wondered if any of what I was doing was right.

What I had yet to realize, was that before I could fully rise, my old structures had to collapse. 

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When you are following a blueprint plan for your life, the path is safe, stable, and predictable. You know what to expect, roughly when, for how long, and what it typically looks like. Graduate college, have a successful career, get married, have kids, have successful kids, it never ends. There is nothing at all wrong with this trajectory, and if this is a pattern you followed, it's because you were divinely guided to do so. There is beauty in every life path, regardless if it was one you followed or one you designed yourself. What I'm trying to get at by saying "following a blueprint", is that our life path is as unique as our fingerprint. Trying to live the way the people before you did, or the way those around you do isn't living a life of authenticity. I can’t help but think some people may never reach their full potential because they ignored the gifts and talents they were born with in order to fit someone’s or society's mold. 

I'm here to remind you that there's no specific mold you're supposed to be killing yourself to try and fit inside of. You can create your own mold, you can recreate it as many times as you want, and it's never too late to decide you want your own and not someone else's. There is power in making your life yours.

When you follow your heart, you are completely vulnerable to everything that takes place “outside of the box”. Doing it takes a huge amount of unwavering courage. It’s putting yourself out there with potential to fail, it’s giving it all you have with little to nothing in return. It's going against the grain, getting judged or ridiculed by people who don't understand you, and cast out because you no longer belong, or because your differences make them uncomfortable. It also becomes isolating, because you begin to find that the people you surround yourself with don't support the version of yourself you're trying to create. (You'll later learn that this isolation was good for you, and that it was to make room for the people that are for you.)

What I'm trying to say, is that following your heart is not an easy choice. In fact. it can be pretty painful at times. You're going to question it, yourself, and what on earth you were thinking when you came up with this wild idea in the first place. Those feelings will be there, and they're normal--I promise. In these times, think about what this choice has added to your life and everything you're grateful for. No one knows you better than you know yourself. You did this because you felt it was what was best, so don't let go of that.

When you choose to follow through with things that matter deeply to you, you'll begin to witness the relationship with yourself begin to evolve into something you never expected. Following your heart means trusting yourself, your intuition, and the purpose your life has. Our heart leads us to our purpose.

Release your death grip on life. Release the need to be experienced, understood and seen in a specific way. Let people think what they want to think, they will anyway. Let go of your pride and ego, the need to be at a certain financial or work status in order to be respected. You are not your mind, you are the person observing the thoughts in your mind, and you can create new thoughts that benefit your heart's burning desires. You can be fluid, malleable, and you can change your life any time you want. If you want to find true authenticity, this is where it begins.

Following your heart is rewarding, tastes sweeter than any material accomplishment you could ever achieve, and is of higher value than any salary you could ever acquire. You're probably thinking, “How would she know this?” Once you experience this liberation within yourself, you’ll understand the purity of the happiness you feel, and your life will begin to really open up. You’ll see that everything in life is happening in your favor, and was all along.

Here are a few things that happen when you follow your heart:

• You come back home to yourself. Who you were long before the world changed you.

• You begin to understand yourself on a deeper level.

• You live a life of authenticity. 

• You live a life of harmony–what you’re feeling and what you’re doing are aligned.

• You slowly attract people that lift you up, support you, and love you.

• You feel lighter, because you’re no longer hiding parts of yourself.

• You begin to see life as a gift, and not something you’re trying to “get through”.

• You inspire others to do what truly makes them happy.

Take the leap. Make a bold decision to believe in yourself and go for it. Pave your own path. If anyone can do it, it's you. When you begin following your heart, you'll find that the world keeps spinning and that no matter what, everything is going to be okay. You are going to be okay.