Is there anything such as heart versus the mind? Should the heart rule over the mind or vice versa? How is it that we love someone from the heart, but think from the mind?

Whenever we talk about intense feelings, such as love, trust, courage and even hate, we tend to associate them with the heart. In love we feel our heart flutter, and in separation we feel it ache. On the other hand, we link intelligence with the mind. Sharp minded, quick thinking, imaginative, simple-minded, are all words used to describe the mind. However, if the mind ceases to work, every type of emotion fades away. And if the heart doesn’t pump the blood to the brain where majority of the mind resides, the mind will not think any longer. So, which of the two, the heart or the mind, is really calling the shots?

The mind is a combined result of our thoughts, feelings, behavior, attitude, and every memory stored in our brain cells. It is the rationalizing factor in our lives. It is key to our survival, works all the time to protect us and keeps us safe in every situation. Mind is all about our consciousness, of being what we are, and makes us interact with the world. But still at times we say, ‘let the heart rule over the mind’, when, actually, the heart doesn’t think at all?

The heart, as we know, is the main organ which keeps the body alive. Yet when we decide to ‘follow our hearts’, we expose ourselves to danger and vulnerability. Such as falling in love deeply with someone can be one of the most irrational and harmful experiences. We may forget about our responsibilities, our health, and dedicate all our waking moments to our beloved. Similarly, those with intense compassion for the needy may travel to deprived areas of the world, defying logic, just to help strangers, but at the same time exposing themselves to risk and disease.

Whenever we feel an urge for any such intense emotions, our logical mind is put to rest and we allow our heart to take over. The heart doesn’t reason, it doesn’t rationalize, and because it actually can’t think, it is absolutely deaf, dumb and blind to the point of making us appear foolish. But it is only through experiencing the level of intensity that a heart can bring and putting to rest the logic of our mind, that a person goes on to fulfill a dream, to fulfill a passion. She may climb an Everest, swim through the English Channel, build an Eiffel, win a 100 meter race, or create a new business. Imagine if we always kept on thinking logical and stayed calculative, we would be no different than a machine. A machine that does only what it is told.

Heart brings ambitions and achievements. It brings faith in yourself and faith in God. If you want to conquer the world or conquer yourself, it is necessary that the heart is permitted to rule the mind many a times.

We must use the passion of our heart over the logic of our mind and not only to grow ourselves, but also for doing good to others and doing good to rest of the life on this planet.

Think from your heart and win the hearts of many.