Be a Friend of Your Heart

Psychology is starting realize that we have two control and decision-making centers in our brain.  They even could be seen as two 'selves.'  There is the cognitive brain and the rational self.  Bern wold call that our Adult.

There is the emotional brain and the passionate self.  Psychology is beginning to find good reason to hold that the passionate self is engaged when we make decisions and that the cognitive brain is unable to make decisions apart from this engagement of the emotional brain.

To complete the picture, in my Christian model of personality there is a third self which is the human spirit.  This is based on the understanding that our inner being is a spiritual being.  It based on the biblical account of God's breath (Spirit) giving Adam life.  It is my understanding that the spirit permanently leaves the body at death and, temporarily, in experiences where we are 'out of our mind' or 'astral travelling.'  

For the human spirit to leave the body is not safe or healthy as indicated by comments about the dangers of an 'empty house' by Jesus.  It is important to occupy your body and your mind.

You occupy your mind by developing and maintaining a clear strong sense of identity,.  A strong identity is found in persons who can make firm 'I" statements.  Those with a weak sense of identity quote others and do not speak for themselves.

One's identity is also expressed through emotions.  It reflects a strong identity to be emotional when appropriate.  It weakens your identity if you suppress your emotions.  When you are without emotion you are out of touch with your identity.

The energy of the spirit is life.  Those with a strong flow of this energy as seen as lively, awake and interesting persons. Those whose flow is severely restricted seem dull, lifeless and unattractive.

Energy is related to physical health and to emotional health.  Low energy may reflect poor physical health or being in a depressed emotional state. 

People wonder what depression is.  The best way to understand depression is as low energy.  Thinking of energy as a flow it is blocked or restricted energy.  In the Bible depression is spoken of as a faint spirit as in "my spirit faints within me.'  Psalm 142, 143.

This flow of energy is, in my Christian model of personality, access from a nonphysical source.  The human spirit - in this model - acts like an antennae that collects energy from nonphysical space.  That energy is the source of life.  That energy is spiritual.  Some might calls this energy Chi, or psychic energy.  

The Bible uses various images such as 'streams of living water,' or 'light of the world' as well as images of breath, wind and Spirit to refer to this invisible life sustaining energy.  

In my Christian model of personality, hat energy is the source of life.  expression of this energy is in passion and emotion. In emotionally healthy (intelligent) people this energy is moving, passion and emotion are active and present in the person's face, eyes and voice tones.  

Life is a flow and those who enter the flow and allow the flow are healthy.  This means that healthy people experience and express their feelings.  Being a friend to your heart means you find lots of healthy ways to be expressive of who you are with feeling.  People pay attention when you have feeling about what you are saying because that makes it personal.

 Let go of all that self control if it turns you into a talking head.  People do not like to listen to talking heads because of the lack of emotion.  

A marriage can be undermined by emotional shut down.  You spouse will find it hard to trust you if you always come across as a 'talking head." 

Trust comes from the heart.  The heart trust if you speak the heart's language of story, picture and feeling.  It 

 it out and get your psychic energy moving! It will absolutely change your state. T

If all else fails, let your emotions out! You MUST, however, do this in a totally responsible way, never infringing upon another person’s space or making a nuisance of yourself.

So, hop on your bed or the couch, lie down and kick and scream.

 The biblical term for the energy within us is spirit.  The energy of life is received in our spirit and flows through our heart - our emotional center.

God's breath gave Adam life.  The Hebrew word for breath and for wind is the word spirit in Hebrew .  Another way to think of spirit is as being.  Being relates to the verb 'to be.'  Think of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob giving Moses a 'name' foor God based on the verb 'to be.  What would that look like?  

We need to appreciate that a name in ancient time allowed on to control the one named.  That is one significance of Moses not really getting a name but an action statement based on the verb to be.  What God said is something like "I am who I am"or "I will be who I will be."

In other words Moses did not get a nice label to say who sent him back to Egypt to free the slaves.  Instead he got a phrase asserting God's right to be who he chose to be.  Say "I am" sent you.  Moses needed a sense of awe and humour to understand what God was saying to him.

'What is spirit but the being energy  As a Christian therapist I chose to use I call it the flow of the spirit

 Let it out and get your psychic energy moving! It will absolutely change your state. T

If all else fails, let your emotions out! You MUST, however, do this in a totally responsible way, never infringing upon another person’s space or making a nuisance of yourself.

So, hop on your bed or the couch, lie down and kick and scream.

George Hartwell M.Sc. Christian therapist provides Christian counselling ( counseling / therapy ) through 90 minute in person sessions at his office in Mississauga.  As a professional Christian Marriage counsellor George provides Christian marriage counselling counseling for couples in Oakville, Mississauga, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.