Every decision starts with the heart.

It sounds sentimental and beautiful.

“Listen to your heart,” Roxette sings, “there’s nothing else you can do.”

The thought is that we are being bombarded by shouts of lies from every angle while our hearts are whispering truth.

Yet is it that simple?

Is every bad decision I’ve ever made a result of me ignoring my heart and being misled by others?

Some clearly have been.

At times I’ve followed the advice of others only to regret it. At other times I’ve blindly done what everyone else around me was doing only to find out it was a bad choice.

Yet many times I’ve ignored the wisdom of others, walked against the grain, and still ended up regretting my choices.

The truth is my heart lies to me as much as it tells me the truth.

Listening to it might have the same odds of making decisions based on a coin flip.

 

Every decision starts with the heart, but it doesn’t start with us listening to it.

It starts with us guarding our heart and guiding it.

Guard Your Heart

An unguarded heart is the most untrustworthy of advisors. We listen to it at our own peril.

It is the one telling us to buy the penny stock, not study for the test, or to eat the extra helping which puts us over our calorie count.

Unguarded hearts aren’t full of wisdom; they overflow with foolishness driven from the emotion of the moment.

     We must guard our hearts because they give themselves away.

It’s easy to lose heart. Pain is great. Suffering is overwhelming. Disappointments abound.

Their cumulative effect can cause us to lose heart.

If we do not intentionally guard our hearts, we will give them away.

We will lose them through the great sorrows of life.

We keep from losing our hearts by:

• Rest
• Seeking beauty
• Not allowing one bad situation to define our day
• Finding the good

If we do not guard our hearts and nourish them, we will give them away.

     We must guard our hearts because they are under attack.

Not only can we lose heart, we can have our hearts taken from us.

Through foolish actions or carelessness, our hearts can be stolen.

We can become bitter, hateful, and revengeful.

Where love and compassion once reigned, envy and spite can rule.

If we do not guard our hearts with intention, others will steal them from us.

We guard our hearts from attack by:

• Setting proper boundaries
• Having accountability
• Being aware of the threat

Our hearts are under a constant attack. Ignorance of the battle guarantees a loss.

An unguarded heart prevents us from making wise decisions. Even with the best intentions, we are incapable of making consistently good decisions when our hearts are unguarded.

Guide Your Heart

Not only must we guard our hearts, we must also guide them.

It’s not enough to keep them from the bad, we must also drive them toward the good.

We must nourish them in positive things.

Who do you want to be?

What kind of heart would it require?

How can you develop that heart within you?

Unless we are guiding them toward what we want them to be, we will never have the heart we desire.

An unguided heart cannot be trusted.

 

Roxette sang, “Listen to your heart, there’s nothing else you can do.”

A more honest lyric would have been, “Listen to your heart, there’s nothing else I know to tell you to do.”

It might be a fair song, but it’s horrible advice.

Every decision starts with the heart. If it is unguarded and unguided, the outcome is left to chance.

Don’t listen to your heart. Guard it and Guide it.