Putting Your Heart and Soul Into It

There is a little known song that goes ‘all the way till my final day I want to live so I can say “what a ride”.’ At this point, I don’t think anything could better describe my mindset after the last 4 months in Ecuador, not to mention the past 7 months of this life journey. Indeed, what a ride it has been. And while I could fill up pages and pages of text with thoughts and reflections on readjustment, I have recently come to believe in the effectiveness of short and powerful messages. Practice what you preach, as they say.

In this same song, one of the verses goes on to say “I want to elevate joy to an art… see with my soul, hear with my heart.” Again the words ring so true with me- how else could I have learned so much and enjoyed life on a new level when I lived in multiple ‘worlds’ that had completely different visual appearances, cultures, and dialects of languages not to mention completely different languages!? Yes, my heart and soul were at work, and when I listened and saw through them I connected with the hearts and souls of other individuals- individuals with nothing visibly in common with me, just the goodness in their hearts and souls to make that improbable connection.

As I was reading Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Will Meet in Heaven, this internal connection we have with others became even clearer to me. He says through one of his characters, “Everybody is related to one another. You can’t separate the life of one individual from another just as you can’t separate the breeze from the wind.” (rough translation from Spanish as I’m reading it in Spanish, a valid attempt to keep up my language skills…) So as you look at the relationships you have now and the ones you will be sure to form, try to see with your soul and hear with your heart, you may find yourself connecting with people you thought you’d have nothing in common with.

Oh, and there one more thing you’re soul and heart can do for you. They may just reveal to you the secret to eternal happiness. Now admittedly, it’s not hard to enjoy one’s self while trying out new and crazy internships in historic cities or small villages, while climbing mountains or lying on the beach in some of the most beautiful country on Earth, or being introduced into the homes and lives of 3 new families! This is what I had to keep me entertained these last 7 months. Yet when I got down to the root of my happiness; when I ‘elevated my joy to an art,’ I realized that I found joy in the little things- the people I surrounded myself with, nights of great conversation and food, and simply the way I lived my life.

I stumbled across this great quote in an email of ‘daily good’ I receive (follow the link to sign up):

“If you observe a really happy man you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his son, growing double dahlias in his garden, or looking for dinosaur eggs in the Gobi desert. He will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that has rolled under the radiator. He will not be striving for it as a goal in itself. He will have become aware that he is happy in the course of living life twenty-four crowded hours of the day.” --W. Beran Wolfe

Happiness is not a destination that can be discovered. However, it is what we find when our destination is discovery.

Thanks for keeping up with the blog! I plan to continue my weekly musings because, as we all know, the destination has not yet been reached and there are still more things to be discover. I look forward to keeping the conversation going!