Put Your Heart into it

There really is something to the saying "Put your heart into it." There are times when I try my hand at something I've succeeded at a hundred times before and I fail. It makes me feel terrible and being the analytical soul that I am , I begin searching out what exactly it is that is making me feel that way. More often than not, I find that it's because my heart was not in it. Putting your heart into it doesn't determine whether you fail or succeed, but it certainly determines how you feel about it. Afterall, who cares if you were successful as long as you feel successful.

My Grandma (she passed in October) was a perfect example of putting your heart into all you do. When I think back on her life, what stands out to me with boldness is the way she did things. I don't recall her successes and failures, but I clearly recall how she went about her life. She put her love into all that she did. Whether it was cooking or cleaning, washing or ironing, gardening, taking care of her family, you name it. She did it all to perfection. She cared about her reflection in those things. My Grandma was a wise woman...wiser than most...she realized that HOW she went about all she did was a mirror image of who she was. It may not have been big, outstanding things that she accomplished in her life, but she accomplished them all with poise, grace and a unique type of perfection.

So much any more all I see around me are extremes. People are either so busy requiring perfection from themselves that they lose all that's in between or they've fallen into a lifestyle of "it's good enough." It breaks my heart for all of us who settle for "just good enough" or think that putting in the hours makes up for the lack of heart. We will only get out of life that which we put into it and unfortunately the times we live in sell us the opposing view. We are taught by society that we are entitled to whatever it is that we want. We are told that we can have it our way and it's supposed to be like that. If you have to work for it there must be something wrong with you. Anything you want is just supposed to fall out of the sky and land in your lap all because that's what you want right? Where's the heart in that?

Ladies, do you think your husband doesn't realize when you slop something together for his dinner and slide it in front of him hoping he doesn't notice? Guys, do you think that your wife doesn't realize that you just go through the motions to keep her from nagging? Parents, do you really think your children aren't watching what you do versus what you tell them to do?

When there is interference in the connection between our actions and our hearts it becomes dangerous territory. This is when going through the motions occurs and before we know it months and years have gone by. We become disconnected and somewhere in the midst we lose our heartfelt desire to do things with love. The downward spiral wears on until everything seems mundane and we all need a vacation from our lives.

Back to my Grandma...She was an excellent cook. I remember many a day of popping over to her house at lunch unexpectedly and within minutes having an array of food choices appear on the table. For years, I pondered what made her food so special. Grandma's house became known as a sleeping zone. Everyone that went to visit always ended up falling asleep wherever they sat. Those were some of the best naps I've ever taken in my lifetime. Her flowers were always the most beautiful, her garden always successful, her house always tidy, her pantry always stocked. It wasn't until after she passed that I realized why --she did all that she did with love. You could walk into her home and tangibly feel the love...hence the long, restful naps. Her food was just regular food, nothing gourmet, nothing spectacular, but it's the food I miss the most because she made it just for us. Her love ran through it. And her roses, how she loved her roses. Her roses were always beautiful and people always admired them and I know they bloomed the way they did because they were loving her back the way that she loved on them. She took her time and put her care into all she did and I know that was an extension of her heart. Do I think she got up every morning excited about ironing clothes or cooking 3 meals a day? Absolutely not, but that didn't stop her. So many people might have considered her life nothing spectacular because she wasn't known for some famous invention or some book she wrote. But her life was absolutely spectacular...because she did all that she did day in and day out for 78 years and she never considered her "insignicant" daily tasks to be insignificant. That in itself is spectacular.

In my life, I may not always succeed in all that I do, but I have determined to not get mad or frustrated at myself if I've failed at something I did without love. I cannot expect my plants to bloom for me if I only water them when I feel like it. I cannot expect my laundry to not have wrinkles if I don't tend to it when the dryer is done. I cannot expect my waistline to be what I desire if I intake what is easy and convenient. I can however expect that anything I do with 100 percent of my heart even if it fails will be far more successful than something I've done by going through the motions with no heart in it at all.

I just want to say this to all of you that may consider their daily routines mundane or insignificant. Whether it's making your child's bed, ironing your husband's shirt or taking out the trash for your wife...everything you do is significant and worthwhile. It may not be spectacular in the day-to-day, but in the months and years it compiles into, you are creating an atmosphere for your family and those around you. You are creating something that makes them comfortable and that speaks to them that you love them enough to care for their every need. So during the next task you set out to do, take your time and put love into it--let it be an extension of your heart. Ask yourself this...if you put as much love into all that you do as my Grandmother did her roses...what in your life would bloom to perfection?