Juggling between the heart, brain and the guts….

The happiness of any individual is dependent on how well he/ she juggles between heart, brain and the guts.

My beliefs….

I always believed that brain is the supreme organ. It is only the brain which has the decision-making ability and guides the body. The heart was meant to pump the blood and keep the system alive. I was told that the gut does flutters and responds to situations when the brain is put under test. Many a class/ batchmates of mine spoke of having butterflies in the stomach during exams or when faced with tricky situations. But somehow, I did not believe in it

As an Army officer my major tasks were decision making and handling human beings. There was no place for emotions in my life. All my decisions were based on logical analysis by the brain. The heart and the gut as per me had nothing to do with it.

Beliefs shattered….

The belief regarding the guts continued till I faced my real test while commanding troops in the insurgency prone areas. There were occasions where life and death of people dependent on me making split second decisions. But the brain refused to respond, and it was purely the gut feel which saved the situation for us.

The belief of mine was shattered the day I met a smart lady officer who had joined the station on posting. After that my heart, which till then had just been happily pumping blood, started speaking a language of its own. All the directions given by the brain went unheeded. It is not that the brain did not try hard enough but this time around the heart just refused to play a subservient role. In fact, the heart dominated the decisions of my personal life at that point of life. An individual like me who had remained a bachelor happily for 32 years got married within next three months.

Still, it was acceptable to me as the brain stayed supreme in the professional matters. This also started getting compromised once I took over the command of my battalion. The heart started interfering with my decisions where the welfare and administration of the troops was concerned. The supremacy of the brain got restricted to purely operational decisions. The heart and brain in a way reached a compromise. Heart started dealing with areas affecting emotions and brain controlling the professional operations.

Brain damages the heart….

There were situations where both heart and brain joined hands to find the best solution. But still the brain which was used to commanding me did not stay quiet for long. It started interjecting in the areas reserved for the heart leading to clashes. These clashes did often leave the heart bruised. The gut did try to provide solutions in such situations. But the stubborn behaviour of the brain ultimately became the main reason for the heart disease I was diagnosed with at the age of 53.

Lessons from life….

To lead a happy life, one should know how to maintain a balance between the heart, brain and the gut. Though each one of them has got a specific role to play but there is scope of overlap for a logical decision making. This overlap is what defines and ensures the life work balance. A good leader is the one who understands this balance.

Brain is vulnerable to manipulation by available evidence and people and heart may get overwhelmed by emotions. But the gut will always stand by you, specially, in adverse situations. When the brain goes blank trust your gut to save your heart. When my brain was refusing to accept that I have a heart problem it is the gut feel (and my wife) which made me go to the hospital.

In matters of love, more often than not, it is the gut feel which gets the right answers to get the two hearts closer.  Sole dependency on brain in such matters will generally result in disaster. When I finally felt that I was in love I just followed my gut and kept the brain shut.

I can say with conviction that among the three the gut feel has been my best friend. It has stood by me in the worst of the situations when the heart and the mind refused to guide me.

My suggestion to all the readers is to maintain a balance between the heart, brain, and mind in daily life, personal or professional. That way all of them will stay happy and you will stay happy. There will be less stress in life and no heart attacks.

Lessons the heart attack taught me….

My Dream Girl….Zara Tasveer se Tu Nikalker Saamne aa…

My take on the heart attack and the aftereffects….