6- when you really want something… it’s your mission on earth

 

“there is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. it’s your mission on earth”

What does it really mean to follow you heart?  Why should you?  What is it that your heart knows that your brain doesn’t?  Your brain is essentially a computer.  It takes in sensory data, from your ears and your eyes and the nerves on your skin, and it computes them, according to the programming that you have taught it… then it spits out the analysis of your surroundings.  It then sends messages that come in one of two forms: things that are OK, and you can just keep on keeping on… or, things that are not ok and you’ve gotta consider fighting or getting out of there.  That’s about it.  Like any muscle or pet, it can be trained… and through the course of our lives we are actually teaching it how to compute information as we literally, physiologically, rewire the neural network.  It is pretty intense, just also fairly straight forward.  That’s the brain.

And then there’s the heart.  This is another beast entirely.  The heart knows no logic and knows no common sense.  The heart, which Santiago refers to, has no biological functions or physiological explanation.  The heart, here, is the center of our life energy.  If you imagine the energy that keeps you alive as a galaxy, invisibly revolving around, your heart is that spot right in the center.  And this center of your personal galaxy is your communication hub with the universe that created you.  The thing is that your heart feeds you information just like your brain, but it comes in a different format.  Your brain almost speaks to you as words inside your head, but your heart… Well, I will let you try to explain that.  Try to explain to me what it feels like when you have experienced perfect success or utter rejection. Put words to the feelings you have towards your creation… a painting, a relationship, a child.  You would have a hard time and that is because the language in our mind is the same one that we speak… but the language in our hearts is one that speaks softly… and it speaks as though it is a language that we used to know… and if we listen and concentrate then we can discern the message.

Ok, so we’ve got this: language of the brain, language of the heart…. check.  So what?  Well, so here’s the thing.  Because the world teaches us more about our thinking than our feeling, we have trained our heart to know that under most circumstance we are going to listen to our brain.  And like a parent (you) that has two children… the one that you listen to gets confident and starts to say more and more, and the one that is neglected sulks and says little… because if it says nothing there is less of a chance of it feeling rejected.  But here is the most important part of this equation, we have reversed the way that things have been designed… our brain was actually given to us as a tool… a muscle… a servant to help us to accomplish the things that our heart tells us!

Our heart is the master of our happiness.  The heart always knows and always has known the things in life that will bring true happiness and fulfillment.  Knowing this, it should be no surprise that we live in a world of people afraid to trust their heart and therefore live in a world where we are all looking for happiness and fulfillment like the old guy from Peter Pan who lost his marbles.

Satisfaction and Happiness are linked to purpose, as is our heart.  I believe, as many others do, that we live a life that is more than a biological accident and that there is real purpose built into who you are and why you are here.  This information, for each of us, is stored in the soul of the universe and our heart has full access, if we choose to listen.   Our heart can teach us, instantly, which choices will lead to lasting happiness and which will lead to suffering.  And then, sometimes, if we have respected our hearts along the way… our hearts bring out the “big guns.”  We become passionate about something.  This is just the heart doing its thing, but on steroids, because you have been exposed to something that is going to bring you extreme happiness and satisfaction.  Your heart is screaming and shouting and throwing its shoe at you to try to get your attention, because it knows that if you listen, and turn off the incessant doubt and fear from good old Mr. Brain, then you will find your calling in life, and you will be happy for the rest of your time here on earth.

I have spent years of my life working to exercise this listening power.  I am far from perfect, but I put in energy nearly everyday to work on learning the language of my heart and acting upon the promptings along the way.  One day, as I was hanging out with a small community, Matoso, on the edge of Lake Victoria while on a backpacking trip though East Africa my heart said something quite clearly.  It told me that I had to start an organization that could teach an infinite amount of people the correct principles of community development work and send them to thousands of communities across the developing world to teach water purification, solar power, community sanitation and agriculture.  ”This would improve millions of live and change the world forever,” I was told.  I accepted the challenge.  Easy enough, I thought.  So I came home, plugged back into a normal school semester, plugged into my normal business activities to bring in the dough and ran this new start-up, with help from friends, on the side.  But that was not good enough, said my heart.  It told me that I could not truly be happy unless I pursued this goal and that I could not truly go after it if I had any other distractions.  So I finished up school, liquidated my business, and said, “Well heart, here I am… now what?”  And my heart paved the way.  My heart apparently has a bunch of connections and made this happen and that happen.  He said that if I just trusted him then he would take care of the details.  And so, two years later we have built an incredible organization that we are extremely proud of and I am still alive.  I eat food everyday and have a comfortable place to sleep and I do not have to sacrifice a shred of my energy away from this organization, SCHAP, which my heart told me to start.  And best of all, I am content.  I sleep well at night because I know that during the day I am putting my all into my life purpose.
The soul of the universe has a plan for all of creation.  And it fulfills that plan by giving us all assignments.  The way that we know what’s on our syllabus is by listening to our hearts to get the clues.  Every great discovery or major contribution to this world came because someone chose to follow their passion.

That, in my opinion, is what happiness really is; it is the code that the universe uses to tell us that we are working in harmony with the grand scheme of things.  And every unpleasant emotion; guilt, fear, anxiety, hate, frustration… are nothing more than clues that we are off course.

When you are listening to your heart then you are in line with the soul of the universe and you are happy.  When you ignore your heart (you know who you are) then you are unhappy.  Period.  As you quiet your loud mind and listen, you will hear clues that will help you to find your mission in life.  And if you choose to pursue that mission then you will be filled with excitement and deep satisfaction that also comes from the Soul of the Universe.

 

on my way to Matoso for the very first time

the day that the notion to start SCHAP came, in Matoso

dude fishing in Matoso

this was the night that I spoke to locals about the organization that I wanted to start and asked if Matoso would like to become the first beneficiaries. They said yes.

 

 

 

 

presenting in front of our board at a recent board meeting. SCHAP has been so fortunate to attract volunteers, interns, teammates, donors and board members who are committed to our success