I became a Mom in 1981 and again in 1983.  I love my sons deeply and wanted to give them the best of myself, always. I did not have a positive parenting template to follow because I was not well parented myself. With care for my children, I reached out for support. My heart guided me to specific books and positive parenting classes. Within a couple of years I was running my own parenting center, teaching parenting classes and counseling families.

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Over the years there were times of confusion: is this my heart speaking or is it just what I want? With practice, I learned to be quiet inside to discern the voice of my heart.

 

My heart is the way of integrity and now I choose it most of the time. Even in the face of fear and uncertainty my heart offers me clear directions.

 

A turning point in the course of my life occurred in 1997  when I read an article about an organization called HeartMath. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was to become my life’s work. What I did know is that my heart intelligence was drawing me forward at warp speed to go to HeartMath and become a HeartMath Trainer, which I did.

 

At a HeartMath retreat, I met a retired scientist and we decided to work together. A few years into our partnership he pitched a program to the United States Federal Laboratory in Livermore California, from which he had recently retired. When he shared with me the program he sold them I said, “But Jim, that program doesn’t exist,” to which he responded, “I know, but I figured you could create it” and  the Managing The Moment program was born.

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Jim left our partnership after we completed the first pilot program. He never wanted a second career.  He just wanted to help me. I have been teaching the Managing The Moment program at the Lab now for twenty-two years.  From cross-country moves, to parenting to teaching parenting classes, to doing training and coaching for world class scientists, it is always my heart intelligence that has been my inner beacon.

 

In the fall of 2019 my forty-year marriage was ending. My heart gave me a powerful directive to leave California, a place I loved. I felt drawn to Colorado and in March of 2020 my youngest son helped me move to my new home. I had never been to Colorado Springs and knew no one. As challenging as the first two years were, I never doubted my decision to move there, because the guidance came from my heart.  After almost three years in Colorado, I know I am exactly where I need to be.

 

There have been so many poignant moments in the intervening years: moments of heart-based discernment, when important decisions needed to be made, and speaking and acting from my heart really mattered. Sometimes it was learning to pause long enough to discern whether or not to offer help or advice; other times it was about declining opportunities that “looked perfect.” My heart helped me navigate each and every one, bringing more peace and love into my life.

 

My personal authority and enduring strength comes from knowing that my heart has all the answers I need - and that I have the courage to listen and to follow it.