follow your heart

Follow Your Heart: and you’ll find your way home

By Barry Bittman, MD

So many people seem to be lost these days¾ just passing each moment without a sense of joy, enthusiasm, or purpose. We see it in our youth, and comment about it frequently.

Yet we rarely recognize it at other stages of life. Then, one day it surfaces again as a hallmark of disease¾ a way of life that progressively deteriorates into a struggle through old age. I’m convinced that the passage of time without meaning or fulfillment is a prime setup for a host of diseases.

Just think of the word, “disease” for a moment. According to the Random House Dictionary of the English Language (second edition unabridged), “dis” is a Latin prefix that signifies “apart, asunder, or having a negative or reversing force,” and “ease” often refers to “a quiet state of mind.” Therefore the combination, “dis” + “ease” can suggest a reversing force acting upon a quiet state of mind. Life without purpose is a catalyst for illness.

Living day to day without goals or aspirations leads to the inevitable. Habits that develop in youth become a way of life. Many argue that in our fast-paced society, there is little time for anything other than making a living, eating and sleeping. Yet, when one considers the latest statistics about time spent simply watching television, some extraordinary trends become immediately apparent.

According to the News & Observer, whose sources include the Congressional Quarterly, Children Now, the FCC and the Center for Media Education, watching TV is the number 1 after school activity for 6-17 year-olds. Children, ages 2-17 watch an average of 3 hours of TV each day. By age 18, 15,000 to 20,000 hours have been spent watching television. It is an astounding fact that children, on average, spend 1,500 hours in front of the tube, in contrast to only 900 hours in the classroom each year.

And when it comes to negative programming, the average child completing elementary school has witnessed more than 100,000 acts of violence and 8,000 murders on television. This data is not surprising given the fact that there are 5 acts of violence per hour on prime-time TV. Yet, brace yourself for this … there are 26 violent acts per hour during Saturday morning children’s television!

To support my contention that habits developed early persist, consider this fact: The average 70 year-old in our society has spent 10 years watching TV!

So where are your dreams, your aspirations, and your goals?

Are we so caught up in entertainment, that we can no longer enjoy ourselves by discovering what makes us tick? Have we traded the sense of “self,” for the melodrama of Hollywood? Do we thrive on constant external stimulation? Are the senseless acts of violence that are transforming our schools just random events?

In the final analysis, television is not the culprit. In fact, there are wonderful programs that resonate with our souls, such as Touched By An Angel, and phenomenal educational opportunities on Public Television, and the Learning Channel. The popularity of television is a mere reflection of the void that exists in ourselves¾ an emptiness that is often filled in an unhealthy manner by activities such as smoking and excessive drinking.

In other cultures, quiet time for self-reflection is an integral and essential part of life and health. It is the journey within that reestablishes balance, harmony and well-being.

When was the last time you simply stopped for a few moments and asked yourself what truly gives you fulfillment?

Unfortunately for most, the question never surfaces until the day arrives when we face the prospect of a serious illness. Suddenly life seems to come to a screeching halt, as we finally take that deep breath, and look into ourselves. What is often revealed is a seemingly inexplicable void,¾ what we have not done, what we have never accomplished. It’s an unfortunate time to fill that space.

I often wonder whether the challenge of illness presents itself because that emptiness needs to be filled? Is disease no more than a symptom of that void?

Only you can answer that question which is so painful to address. It’s up to you make the time to look within and discover the answer. And if you recognize the void within yourself, know well that there are endless possibilities to fill it, and to become fulfilled.

You don’t have to go it alone, yet you do have to make a choice. And it takes a great deal of courage to simply try.

It is my prayer that each of you discover for yourself what’s truly right for you. And if you’re lost (you know if you are), instead of watching television at bedtime, consider reflecting upon the following line each night before you close your eyes. “If I follow my heart, I’ll find my way home … If I follow my heart, I’ll find my way home”¾ Mind over Matter!