Guarding Our Hearts

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” – Proverbs 4:23

I love following a certain musician on social media.  His music feeds my soul and his life story is inspiring. Yesterday, I decided to visit his page on social media.  My heart was full and content as I had experienced a productive morning full of purpose, the sun was out, and I had a delicious lunch in front of me.

I opened up the social media app and was greeted by the latest news cycle.  I started doom-scrolling.  In under 15 minutes, I went from a heart that was full and content…to texting my husband that we needed to move out of the country because our young adult boys would be drafted and surely killed.  After all, World War III was just around the corner.     When I looked up from my phone, I was physically in the same place, sitting outside on a beautiful day, but mentally I was in a very different space. The beautiful breeze and sunshine looked at me mockinly as if to say, “Yeah, this is all coming to an end soon.”  I felt helpless and hopeless and unsure what to do next.

As I went about my afternoon, with now a heavy heart, I kept circling back to the future vision that my heart held after the doom-scrolling. (I never did make it to my favorite musician’s page).  It was bleak.

Then I looked up on my wall where I had a framed picture of  Proverbs 4:23, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

In my most recent health coaching class we talked alot about nutrition and cardiovascular (heart) health.  We talked of cholesterol, diabetes, blood pressure, or in other words, “the plumbing” of heart health.  But yesterday I started to see how not guarding my heart, and engaging in doom-scrolling, I was also hurting my health.

As cortisol and other stress hormones were released my heart was gearing up for a fight, or a flight, just like if there was a tiger in the room.  And if I was being honest, I had let this tiger in the room.

What we do know is that our hearts, bodies, and minds, are not meant to live in a state of “fight or flight” from tigers.  Tigers are supposed to be infrequent and temporary.  Our caveman ancestors would say, “For goodness sakes, get out of the tiger’s lair!”

But now with the world in our hands, we can call up the tiger anytime we want.  And we do.  Maybe we feel like we should.  Maybe we believe we are doing something productive.  But, on the contrary we are doing damage.  We are not guarding our hearts.

My heart needs fresh foods that are whole, and colorful, largely from plants.  It needs love and connection and a little sunshine.  It needs exercise and purpose.  And it deserves and needs a place to be protected from the tigers.  This is ALL my responsibility.

I can’t change the fact that there are tigers out there in the world, but I can stop inviting them in for a cage match in my mind.  I can instead  ask myself, “What is the next right thing to do?”  It may be to vote or run for office, but it may also be to find out how my neighbor is doing, smile at the check-out person, tip generously, or other things that can nourish my heart and make it grow.

What can you do today to guard your heart: to nourish it and watch it grow? Let’s make a list in the comments below!