Head or heart...

I am goal oriented. Goals motivate and give me direction. The big thing in goal setting the last ten years or so has been the "life plan" (for lack of a better term). Its not about your business goals, or educational goals, or personal goals; it's about your life...your ideal life style...your dreams...I employ a business consultant...He calls himself a "coach"...whatever...When I bring a major issue to this consultant here is what he asks me. "Do you see your ideal life including this change?" I usually reply, "I don't know..." I think I frustrate him.
:-)

Ah yes, actually I've tried this approach to life, and quickly found it to be insufficient. Some good questions are being addressed; but they don't go far enough.

The life planners contend you can have your dream life if you cultivate the right beliefs, thoughts, and attitudes. Combine that with enough determination, motivation, and focus, and poof...the ideal life...your dreams come true...Success, fame, fortune, wealth, happiness, and perfect relationships with perfect people...Awesome... :-)

The problem is two fold. First, this is, at the end of the day, a self centered approach to life. Self centeredness always leads to trouble. I can personally attest to this. (Hell, I could write a book about it.) In my own life, every time I approach things with a self centered perspective, it blows up...no exceptions...its just a matter of time. The hook is that self centeredness is satisfying for awhile. At the end of the day it is not...Being content and thankful are more important, and more satisfying in the long run...Now, for what it's worth, the life planners do include thankfulness, and contentment in their "life plan" model; however, they are not central ideas.
Second, beliefs, attitudes, and thoughts (which are largely determined by ourselves) do not determine the outcome of our life...What does? I want to argue that our heart does...Yeah...Our "heart"...it determines the direction, consequence, and results of our life...Hmmm.

Please hear me out.
:-)

It is the heart, not the head that matters. Prov. 3 reads..."Guard your heart with all diligence for from it flow the springs of life."
Interesting...

So what is the "heart"? The heart seems to be similar to the soul. IDK if the terms are interchangeable or not...let's say not...they are just closely related.
The heart (according to a complication of definitions) includes thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs (like the life planners). However, in addition it includes emotions, as well as our personality, and life experiences (esp. the formative ones). These we have little or no control over.

At the last, maybe we look outside ourselves, and stop chasing a dream life. Instead we work on personal contentment; influence what we can..and the rest we trust to outside forces that we don't control...

IDK, I said the "life planners" don't go far enough in their questions, and approach. Does this "heart" source go far enough? To basically look outside self, be thankful, and demonstrate faith? I'm not so sure. Maybe the solution is more radical, even disturbing. Could it be as crazy sounding as..."We have to give up our life to gain it"?

Hmmm.

Where have I heard that?
:-)

And, what does that look like? How does it flesh out?
We have an object lesson in the recorded life of Christ, yes...But what does it look like in modern life in America? I'm just thinking out loud here, that's all. Its something to think about, though...again just speaking for myself.

If you read this far, thanks for bearing with me. This is not particularly profound or anything...But typing it out in a blog no one reads (except my mom sometimes...(Hi mom!) and a couple others, I know)...helps it solidify in the old cranium...lol

Can they really do that?

Unfortunately yes, they can, and do...

A doctor prescribes a drug to a patient (not me, I am not the subject here...but I know who is). The patient takes the drug for five years as part of a maintenance program. The doctor see the patient periodically for check ups only. No changes are made to dose, medication type, or anything else. Like many modern drugs, this drug should not be stopped suddenly. A sudden withdrawal of treatment would not be life threatening; however, it would be unpleasant. The doctor began treatment "for safety reasons" because of the patients activities. The patient would potentially put themselves in danger if they engaged in these activities w/o treatment.

The patient missed an appointment, and the doctor decided not to refill the prescription until an appointment was rescheduled. OK, no problem, that sounds fair (see you tomorrow, right?)....NO...The doctor went to their vacation home out of state for three weeks. The patient was cut off. The patient called the doctor to ask about the activity the doctor was concerned about and got no return call. The patient called several times with questions about activities, whether another doctor might see them, etc. Not one phone call was returned. The patient called another doctor on their own, got an appointment that day, and resumed treatment.

So what do you think? Was the doctor arrogant, or incompetent? Both? Or are they just practicing good medicine? Do you think they were justified in doing this to the patient? I don't. Even though I am not the patient, I'm thinking about a complaint...to save others from this doctor. Someone needs to say something. How would you like to be this patient? If this is common practice, it needs to change.
People who have a responsibility to care for others need to have a higher standard.

Oh, one more detail...! A month later, even though the patient canceled the appointment in advance...they got a "No Show" bill for $50!! They called the doctor's office to ask why they were being charged...Can you guess what happened next?
The doctor did not call back. No one from the office called back.

I think a formal complaint is in order my self...I do.

The doctor uses an outside billing service. As a result you get a doctor who will not discuss the situation, and a billing company who (is arms length) just bills, and adds interest each month if payment is not made...(there is no dispute process). They send them to collections after a specified period of time.
Now, that should not even be legal. You at least need a dispute process!
Maybe I should write my congressman...:-)
IDK