Heartfelt

Ter has lived most of her life by following her heart. One day someone asked her if she’s been successful at it and she answered, “Not always.”

On the surface, it may look that way. Life doesn’t always go to plan. You fall in love with a guy who breaks your heart. You give your best to a job where others advance by manipulating themselves into promotions. You watch other people living the white picket fence dream and having the nerve to bitch about it. Take enough detours and hit enough dead ends, and eventually you’ll wonder where you went wrong.

But did you? Can you ever truly err by heeding the keeper of your little voice? Life does go to plan, just not to the plan you imagine once you’re old enough to believe that you need one. Truth is, people are born with plans. That’s the point of this mortal exercise. If the plan you imagine coincides with the one you came with, great. If not, then you consider yourself a failure. But are you? Really?

In a world where all our priorities are skewed, you might think so. How sad is it when a loving, generous, trusting, inherently good person questions herself for being loving, generous, trusting and inherently good? When she’s not locked in mortal combat with herself, Ter is my example of how to get it right. Truly, she has suffered for it: the guy broke her heart, she was stonewalled at work, she took a while to realize that the white picket fence was only the dream she was promised if she did everything right. It wasn’t actually her dream.

At her core, in her innately wise moments, I think she is doing just fine in the plan department. She has a strong set of personal values that have steered her through all manner of adversity. She is by no means perfect (sorry, bud), but throughout the hardest moments of her life, she has remained impeccable. She hasn’t done that by following her head. She’s done it by following her heart … and in no way can that be called anything other than successful.