“What pulls you in and speaks to you? Our choices are rooted in decisions we make from our heads or decisions that we make from our hearts. Yet, the decisions that we weave from both together balance, ignite and fuel change and personal growth.” ~ Randi Levin Coaching
Often an over thinker, my decisions default to headspace. Getting caught up in the chatter inside my head often leaves me spending an excessive amount of time on asking and answering questions of myself that perhaps are doing more to hold me back then to propel me forward. When we make decisions only from our thoughts, we don’t allow in much of the opportunity and serendipity that unfold when those decisions are based on instinct, love, and warmth, and often the whimsy of our hearts. Our mind tells us what our heart cannot. Our hearts celebrate what our mind has no space for.
So how can we know when and how to decide?
There is no one clear right answer to this.
Perhaps it is a combination of heart and head spaced decisions that offer us the most centered and balanced lives.
Our son is on a gap year program 6000 miles from home. He is away for his first semester for 4 months. We had no plans to visit him. The trip was too expensive, too far, and too time consuming. Or was it?
That was the story we told with our heads.
Then our hearts played out a different tale.
Who says we don’t have time to go? We have done long weekends in far away and non-typical spots before. Why couldn’t we visit?
I had friends that were opinionated about why I needed to visit, or how I would do so, or why I would spend the money. Yet, this was not their decision.
I knew that for our family, a quick visit, a loving check in, time to talk and recalibrate was in fact important.
The question was…what was I willing to do about that?
If I had allowed my visit to be based on conventional wisdom and reason, it would never have happened. We would have talked ourselves out of going. We would have listened to friends advice or gotten caught up in our busy calendars and excuses. Instead, my husband and I opted to decide from the heart first. Leading with love, intuition, and a sense of purpose we made that 6000-mile trip for a slightly more than 3-day visit! A decision made from our heads with an override from our hearts!
The results?
· We did something that was in alignment with who we are as people and who we are as a family. We are non-conformists. We tend to do things our way. We are seasoned travelers and believe strongly in family time spent connecting in traditional as well as non-traditional places.
· It was the perfect opportunity to catch up, make decisions for upcoming programs and see first hand some of the great components of our son’s experience.
· It was a challenge. Could we pull off 84 hours in a city so far away? The answer was YES!
· We didn’t let the excuses eclipse the moment. Instead we embraced the moment! Beautiful!
I have to admit, as tired as I am post trip, if given the opportunity to rinse and repeat…I would do so all over again! The rewards were rich! #abundant