The Ocean in My Heart

Hello. My name is Colleen, and I am a people pleaser. An avoider of confrontation to my core, I will sacrifice my personal happiness to make sure you are happy with me.

As pleasant and healthy as this sounds, surprisingly, it is not sustainable, lol. Making choices to maintain approval from others is so lame and soul-crushing, and I do not want to teach that to my sons.

I want to share a metaphor that I love so much, I would get it tattooed on my face if I was the "getting a face tattoo type": My heart is an ocean.

My intuition always speaks the truth. The only problem is that it often speaks so humbly, that my innate compass gets overpowered by fear's incessant voice, or the nagging pest that is guilt. Years and years of stifling my intuition and truth got my physical body to start turning on me. I started getting heart palpitations, and I kid you not, my solar plexus started to physically feel bruised. It was a bizarre reality to accept.

Then the metaphor came. My heart ocean... It is that place inside that feels like choppy water when I know something is out of balance. It's also that place that settles into glass-like stillness when I embody and honor my truth.

When I experience every single interaction through the lens of my heart ocean, a guilt-free path just unfolds without effort. If my water is choppy, it is so easy to recognize. If my water is smooth, I embrace that direction. So simple. So obvious.

And this picture is of me, right after consciously honoring my heart ocean for the very first time last week. Can you tell?!

P.S. This metaphor is kid-friendly too. My boys get it already, even though it took their mama 37 years to figure out.

Is there a mantra or metaphor that you live and love by, or try to embody on the daily? I would love to hear your perspective!!!

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Conclusion: When I honor my intuition, a peaceful heart inevitably follows. This tranquility and joy then manifests in everything and everyone around me. The well-intentioned need-to-please lead to a slow self-destruction, and every choice that revolved around interaction with others was painful and tense. The moment I realized that my heart, the seat of my intuition, was speaking to me in a very recognizable way, it became so easy to make hard decisions. I am forever grateful for that gentle wave that crashed into me, from the ocean of my heart.