Life is full of distractions. Besides all the needs of others trying to pull you into their circle, you have your own personal needs screaming for attention. It isn’t that you shouldn’t pay attention to emotional, mental, and physical needs, but not at the expense of your spiritual heart’s needs.

If the heart is left out, your emotional-self will look to others for her needs to be met. Your mental-self will look for outside facts to substantiate what is true for you. And your physical-self will substitute business for power.

Covid-19 tended to throw a lot of people off center. They were still heartful, but fear took a front seat in their need to be safe. So then in trying to keep safe, they uncovered yet another need—that of personal interaction. I know for me focusing on the heart quality of protection, more than my fear of getting sick, was something I had to really work at. But when I could stay centered in the heart’s need to bring protection, I was at peace with the mask, limited interaction, and upset people.

Loving what your heart has to offer in each situation does not mean you won’t have to take physical precautions or push away intruding emotions. Of course you will. But letting your heart’s need to be the guide will keep your thoughts and feelings on subject. From this centered way of living, you will even find tragedies such as the current pandemic easier to confront. This is true because once your heart is the first priority, situations look different.

Thirty years ago I was in a bad car accident that, among other things, broke my hip. Over the years I have had three corrective surgeries. Because I forgot to stay heart centered as I relearned how to walk, I learned incorrectly. By vetoing the heart’s support, I have lived with a lot of pain. I am now learning to walk by staying centered on the heart quality of completion, which helps me roll through my whole foot instead of lift and place. It is amazing how much difference those moments of centering have made in my relearning. I now feel in charge of my walking rather than the victim of it.

Staying heart centered is really a very simple thing to do, when a need is yelling over the voice of your heart. Just stand straight, take a deep breath, quiet your mind, and listen for your heart’s directive. The only hard part of heart centering is to remember to do it. So practice doing this before jumping into a task or interaction. And if you forget, never fear. You can do it in hindsight, which will prepare you for the next interaction. For you see, your heart does not ever go off duty. It will always help you step forward with a sense of purpose.