Here are the three questions posed last week:

1) 'What do you do?'

2) 'What are you passionate about?'

3) 'What is it that makes your heart sing?'

With the last question we shift the conversation to an almost spiritual/emotional level. It really connects and gets to the core about what truly moves us, which is quite different from the first two.

Now, if you did ask those questions of yourself last week (or have asked them now) and felt that your 'real self' emerged – what have you done/what will you do to move towards, what makes your heart sing – towards the real you?

All too often I speak to, or work with people who are clear what makes their heart sing and yet stay stuck in something that they 'do' – human-doing without embracing who they actually are – human-being.

When I then push to ask what they are going to change the tendency can be to Defend, Justify and Explain.(DJE).

DJE is simply another way of saying we are not truly committed to what we believe – another way of attempting to explain to our subconscious that we are not following our heart – another way of subsuming ourselves into the world of grey.

When Chief Executive of a local authority in the early 90s and depression descended, my values were diluted while I hardly saw my family; I made the decision to follow my heart and leave this secure, high profile, highly paid post to keep my dream and thus myself alive.

I then left two further posts for the same reason after that and now I am still following my own dream – to be a true public servant ten years on.

If you stay unhappy in a job – you teach your children that work is about suffering for the money.

If you stay in an unloving marriage – you teach children that marriage has much suffering and even little love.

If you attempt to 'lose' your pain in drink or drugs or sex, how can your heart be heard?

If you do not talk about and explain your mental health challenge or your partner doesn't want you to – you teach your family to stay closed and often needy.

Have you moved one step towards what makes your heart sing since last week? What steps do you need to take this week? And if not this week - when?

Les

A Moodscope member.