Yesterday I shared how I have been thinking and practicing living with an open-handed mindset. Accepting what is, with open hands able to give and receive whatever comes.

I also think we must cultivate an open-heart. An open-heart to love and to life and to possibilities.

We seem to think it is much easier to close our hearts and try to not let anything in because we have been hurt along the way and we don’t want to feel that way again. But all the people I follow, listen to, and learn from, say that when we shut ourselves off to one emotion, we shut ourselves off to all emotions.

Emotions fuel our lives.

Out of the virtue stored in their hearts, good and upright people will produce good fruit. Likewise, out of the evil hidden in their hearts, evil ones will produce what is evil. For the overflow of what has been stored in your heart will be seen by your fruit and will be heard in your words. Luke 6:45 TPT

Out of the heart the mouth speaks.

So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4:23 TPT

Guard your heart above all else for from it flows the wellspring of your life.

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Psalm 37:4 NLT

Hold on to loyal love and don’t let go, and be faithful to all that you’ve been taught. Let your life be shaped by integrity, with truth written upon your heart. That’s how you will find favor and understanding with both God and men—you will gain the reputation of living life well. Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make. Become intimate with him in whatever you do, and he will lead you wherever you go. Proverbs 3:3-6 TPT

Trust in the Lord with all you heart.

We are writing words, stories, messages, on our hearts whether we realize it or not. And from those messages we speak and act.

Craig Groeschel says, “What we believe determines how we behave.” What we write on our hearts, the thoughts we think, become the beliefs we practice.

What messages are you writing on your heart? What stories are you telling yourself? About yourself? About another person? About a circumstance? Or about an event? Is the story you are telling serving you?

We have the power to choose the story, to choose the thoughts, to choose the message, we write on our hearts!

Tell yourself a good story about YOU, your life. Encourage, support, and believe in YOURSELF!

What you think about grows. Think good thoughts. Think on TRUTH, God’s Word, claim it for yourself.

Our heart is where all of each of us gets integrated.

When we practice having an open-heart, we realize that all our emotions are sitting side by side in us. We grow in our capacity to feel what we feel. We come to understand that we don’t have to choose one emotion and deny another one. We learn to feel multiple emotions at once because they are all integrated inside us, and we are not afraid to feel them.

Sometimes I say I have joy-filled sadness. For example, I am joy-filled because of an experience with my husband or my children but at the same time feel deep sadness about the state of our country.

Most of the time I feel like I am a mix of emotions, and I am, but that doesn’t mean something is wrong with me. It means I’m human. So, I am learning to be less harsh with myself. I am practicing self-compassion. I am choosing to tell myself a better story.

Rob Bell did an excellent RobCast called How To Open Your Heart at the beginning of this year. (I highly recommend it.) He goes into more depth about an open heart, some things that close our heart, and ideas about how to open our heart.

He said, an open heart “is the integration of everything you have felt at an emotional level with intelligence, rationality, and logic. Open-hearted doesn’t mean naïve, ignorant, simple, or unaware. Open-hearted is the opposite of such things. Open-hearted sees it all with the discernment that any moment requires.”

When we practice living with an open-heart, we are practicing living from the understanding that life is good. With an open-heart we are able to give and receive all of life.