Empower Your Heart of Hearts

By Gordon B. Ortiz Hamby

It’s never too late to get your heart of hearts into top condition spiritually and emotionally!

What do you need to heal? What do you need to be well? What do you need to stay well? Three seemingly simple questions. But, when asking them of your heart of hearts, they may not seem so simple. Sometimes we believe that heart health is good if we only watch our diet and exercise habits. But, the heart must be able to stay healthy beyond diet and exercise to be able to support us on multiple levels.

For the moment, let’s take a look from a more holistic perspective at the spiritual and emotional heart of hearts. The heart that is a physical muscle, providing physical support for everything we are and do, is the same heart that moves, inspires, and motivates us in the most expansive (and crossover), spaces of spirit and emotion. The following excerpts from the second issue of my book – 11 Energies of the Verve - A Journey of Personal Positivity and Performance of Best Self – include some quick and easy activities and exercises that you can do regularly to help you Empower Your Heart of Hearts through the 11 Energies of the Verve. 

1.   Passion: Weekly, think of a concrete way to address or express something you are passionate about. It doesn’t have to be a new passion every week, as that is a very tall order to fill and would produce scattered results. Figure out your passions first, then pick an expression of these passions that you can perform weekly, either for a different one, or the same one. If your passions are intense enough, you may be able to express them every day. Don’t forget to try new things regularly and possibly discover paths to new passions!

2.   Enthusiasm: Condition yourself to start each day enthusiastically by telling yourself – before your feet hit the floor – that today is going to be an amazing adventure. When looking deeper you will come to see that people and experiences are unique in some way and that each day is a new day with new opportunities and experiences. Same-o, same-o only exists if you allow it to. If challenges come up, use the other 10 Energies to support you in navigating and negotiating!

3.   Compassion: A great way to strengthen compassion is to perform a kind act each day for someone who may be struggling or facing challenges. Hold a door for someone. Help an elderly person cross a street. Smile sincerely at someone who may appear down cast. If you think you see a situation in the making, in which you may be able to help, simply ask the person “What can I do for you?” These actions give value to folks who may feel they are of little value in a given moment.

4.   Openness: Each week, try something new. It could be a food, a new song, a new style of clothing or hair, or more expansively, connect with a new person. This will not only broaden horizons but will also help you develop greater approach-ability that will be read by other people.

5.   SINCERITY: Since sincerity begins within, yet has great effect when it moves outward, this exercise – like Energy #2, Enthusiasm, is based in conditioning and should be done at the start of each day. First, sit in a chair and close your eyes. Take few deep breaths and repeat to yourself that you are going to be straight forward in your communication and interactions, operating in a genuine manner never deceiving or manipulating other people. Understand, that the first steps reside within yourself and how you intend to manage your game. But, do take this commitment to Sincerity as a serious vow!

6.   TRUTH: ?During your regular “you” time, take a few minutes to reflect on your actions and question if you have been truthful in your interactions with yourself and with others. This internal reflection can go back as far as you feel the need to address something that has left you feeling uncomfortable or without your peace so you can clear it and move forward. Don’t be afraid to question yourself in order to figure things out!

7.   Self-Value: Simply look into a mirror and look into your own eyes and address yourself as a person of great value. Encourage and motivate yourself, and acknowledge your victories, large and small. Repeat your mantra if you have created one, or adopt mine: "I can do better, every day and in every way, I can do better!

8.   FORGIVENESS: For yourself, think of a time that you made a mistake. Chances are it won’t be a difficult thing to do as we tend to carry our mistakes with us for a long time, even after other people have long forgotten. You can combine this with the Self Value activity above and tell yourself – into your own eyes in the mirror – that you are forgiven.

Where forgiveness of other people is concerned, if you have an opportunity to forgive someone who has treated you adversely - take it! When an incident crosses your mind use the opportunity to clear it from your mind through forgiveness. You don’t always have to verbalize aloud. But, maintaining a state of forgiveness in our hearts and minds allows us to shake off excess baggage and move forward unencumbered. I have developed an infographic called Spheres of Love and Inclusion that will help guide you. Reach out to me at [email protected] for a free PDF.

9.   Sparkle: Each day, grab an opportunity to show your personal Sparkle. Is it your smile? Share it with someone! Is it your desire to help others? Watch for every day opportunities to help out! Is it your fashion sense? Show the world your style! Is it your good heart and gentle ways? Support someone in their efforts! Sparkle comes in lots of ways and it is that extra something that makes you so very special!

10.   COURAGE: Courage can be displayed and recognized on various levels from personal to public and is relative to the level of challenge or adversity. To build your levels of courage try engaging someone you don’t know in conversation when you are out and about. A great way to do this is to compliment them on something – clothing, smile, etc. – or ask a pleasant question about a popular topic. On a more broad scale, you can look at your areas of comfort and creatively identify actions or activities that will move you away from these comfort zones.

11. LOVE: If you love someone, tell them – regularly, if it is an appropriately close relationship! Remember, that this is about your actions and not another persons reactions. Regardless of their response, you have expressed love. Most importantly though, is that you allow yourself to love and to accept love from others. I have developed an infographic called Spheres of Love and Inclusion that addresses the concepts of love versus personal investment, and Agape. It's a great guide that will help you gauge your investment in all types of relationships. Reach out to me at [email protected] for a free PDF.

I hope you have enjoyed learning more about Empowering Your Heart of Hearts. It is vital to be able to take a more holistic approach to our own well-being, where we no longer fully separate our mental, emotional, and physical selves as they surely feed one anothers good health. The heart is a wonderful example of the duality of the physical versus the emotional, and all of the dynamics and brain processing that come with this type of combination.

As you reveal and recognize your own heart of hearts, you will be more able to read that of other people. This opens doors to getting to know one another, which facilitates the opportunity for greater education, leading us to a greater understanding of our unique qualities as well as our commonalities. A true win, win, win, for all who wish to dig in and Empower Your Hear of Hearts!