Kahlil Gibran said, “When you are born, your work is placed in your heart.” So, what is your work? Are you living your life the way your heart urges you to? That’s our topic for today.
The world you live in is an intelligent system in which every moving part is coordinated by every other moving part. There’s a universal life force that supports and orchestrates everything. It all works together in perfect harmony. You are one of those moving parts. You showed up here in the body you inhabit, precisely on time. Your body will leave here with the same precision. You’re an essential piece of this complex system. Here you are in this intelligent system that has no beginning and no end, in which all of the galaxies move in harmony with each other. You must have shown up here for a reason!
Take a moment right now and point to yourself. Your finger is very likely pointing right at your heart. Not at your brain, but your heart. This is who you are. The constant beating of your heart in and out, out and in, is a symbol of your infinite connection to the always-present heartbeat of God, or the Universal Intelligence. Your left brain calculates, figures things out, analyzes, and comes up with the most logical choices for you. It thinks, thinks, thinks! Your right brain represents your intuitive side. This is the part of you that goes beyond reason and analysis. It’s the part of you that feels things, that’s sensitive to love, that’s emotional about what’s important to you. Your right brain allows you to tear up as you hold your babies, or bask in the beauty of a glorious day. Your left brain can analyze it, while your right brain lets you feel it.
Pick a situation and ask yourself if what you know or what you feel is most important to you. Generally, what you’ll take care of first depends on the situation and circumstances you’re in. Your intellect can be figuring out exactly how you’re supposed to act in a relationship when things are collapsing (or when they’re rapturous), and then there are times when what you feel will supersede what you know. If you are feeling fearful, scared, lonely; or on the other hand, thrilled, loving, and ecstatic, these will be the dominant forces you’ll act upon. These are the times when your right brain is right. Your right brain will always lead you passionately to your purpose.
There’s an intuitive, invisible presence that’s always with you. I picture this presence as a nagging little creature who sits on your right shoulder and reminds you when you’ve lost your sense of purpose. This little fellow is your own death, urging you to get on with what you showed up here for because you have only so many days to get it done, and then your body will be departing from this visit. Your invisible companion will prod you when you’re spending another day doing what somebody else has dictated if it’s not a part of your passion in life.
You’ll most likely always know when you’re off purpose because of your thoughts of frustration. You might not always act on this knowledge, though, because your left brain has not mustered up the courage to do the bidding that your right brain knows is your destiny. Your intuitive inner voice keeps urging you to play the music that you hear so that you won’t die with it inside you. But your left brain says, “Wait a minute. Be careful, don’t take risks, you might fail, you might disappoint all of those who have a different view of what you should be doing.” Then your right-brain invisible companion (your death) speaks even louder. The volume gets turned up and up, trying to get you to follow your dream.
Listening exclusively to your left brain will turn you ultimately into a pretender, or even worse, a commuter—getting up every morning going with the crowd, doing that job that brings in the money and pays the bills; and getting up the next morning and doing it all over again, as a well-known song implies. Meanwhile, the music inside of you fades almost to a point of being inaudible. But your constant invisible companion always hears the music and continues tapping you on your shoulder.
The attempts to get your attention may take the form of an ulcer, or a fire to burn up your resistance, or being fired from a stifling job, or being brought to your knees with an accident. Usually these accidents, illnesses, and forms of bad luck finally get your attention. But not always. Some people end up like Tolstoy’s character Ivan Ilyich, who anguished on his deathbed, “What if my whole life has been wrong?” A fearsome scene, I must say.
You don’t have to choose that fate. Follow your right brain, listening to how you feel, and play your own unique brand of music. You won’t have to fear anything or anyone, and you’ll never experience that terror of lying on your deathbed someday, wondering if your whole life has been wrong. Your invisible companion on your right shoulder will prod you each and every time you’re moving away from your purpose. It makes you aware of your music. Listen to your invisible companion, express the music that you hear, and ignore what everyone else around you thinks you should be doing. As Thoreau put it, “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.”
Be willing to accept that others may even see you as having betrayed them, but you haven’t betrayed your music, your purpose. Do what you know you have to do to feel whole, to feel complete, and to feel as if you’re fulfilling your destiny. You’ll never be at peace if you don’t get that music out and let it play. Don’t die with that music still in you.