It’s a good 60’s song—slightly dated, but still lyrically solid with a catchy tune. Sung at the time by Glenn Yarborough, the repeating chorus is: “Baby, the rain must fall. Baby, the wind must blow. Wherever my heart leads me, ….baby, I must go, …baby, I must go.”
That was an anthem of the sixties generation: Wherever my heart leads me, …baby, I must go. Funny to think that many of those free-spirited, idealistic, make-love-not-war, folks of the mid-sixties have now become the established autocrats running the world.
How could that ever be? Did their hearts lead them into international banking industries and global exploitation? How do you turn the free-love-hippies generation into world domineering power-brokers? Was it magic, …or just greed? Was that song refrain actually: “Wherever money leads me, …baby, I must go”?
In reality, sometimes our inner values take a hit to external demands. Somewhere, at sometime, our “heart” leading us may concede that direction over to our “head” that prefers living a more comfortable and secure lifestyle. We may cave on our values— pushing aside our ideals for the promise of something more lucrative and predictable.
Sometimes we justify what we do for whatever reason best fits the moment; and we might tell ourselves that we aren’t really giving up our dreams of simplicity and non-conformance—we are just maximizing our present potential to create the best possible future for ourselves and for our loved ones. Now who hasn’t said that same thing?
Why I mention this at all is that I was just reading a couple hypnosis/NLP books on incongruent behavior being a leading cause of why people can’t find a viable solution to their problems: with relationships, in careers, and in feeling that they have no sense of purpose to their lives. Both books’ premise was that these problems occur when people find their behaviors in conflict with their values.
Whenever we pit ourselves against ourselves, even unknowingly, we invite dysfunction and failure into our lives. We set ourselves up for dissatisfaction and unhappiness by failing to be true to who we are and what we believe about life in general.
The books suggested that people should “be true to their values and follow their hearts” to lead more satisfying and successful lives. Sounds like a familiar song, doesn’t it?
But what happens when the rain is falling and the wind is blowing, and your pockets are empty? Are you following your heart to the soup kitchen and the homeless shelter?
That is part of the problem with being true to our values: we don’t live in an ideal world that applauds that sort of thing. So we make choices in the moment. One choice leads to options in one direction, and one choice may lead in the other direction.
It’s that Robert Frost “Two roads diverged in a yellow woods…” dilemma. Which road do you take?
I think that is an important decision we all must make at some time in our lives, but hopefully we at least make it in full awareness of whether our hearts or our heads are leading the way.
However, that also means we must KNOW who we truly are and what we truly want from our lives to be able to recognize the difference between those two choices.
My suggestion: meditate, journal, and spend some quality time just getting to know yourself so you can determine what you DO truly value in your life.
