VII. Shall We Follow Our Hearts?

We are constantly bombarded with the idea that following our hearts is the key to happiness and succes. Successful people, we are told, succeeded because, in spite the curved balls life threw at them, they clang to the promptings of their hearts and triumphed.  On the other hand, there is an increasing reaction to a kind of prevalent stoicism. Deny yourself the pleasures of life and you will excel! The path of self-denial and suffering seems to be the key to a successful life. So, should we follow our hearts? What do we understand by "the heart" anyway? 

Often we mistake negative emotions with emotions we should not experience (shame, fear, anger, etc). At the same time we encourage people to follow their hearts, as if our passions were always pointing in the right direction. 

The truth is that emotions are a set of reactions that help emotional creatures to stay alive and thrive, and so all emotions are good to have. But it is also true that our emotional reactions are not always realistic enough and we fear situations we should not fear, etc. Our reason can be of help here and tell us what is reasonably dangerous. 

Aside the numerous disagreements between our emotions and our best knowledge, there is an additional problem in our hearts. We tend to fall into particularly popular unrealistic emotional responses: it is easier to be greedy than generous. Our heart is not neutrally set to pursue our own good.

However, we are not hopelessly abandoned to the whims of our emotions, we can regulate and educate them. With prudence aiming at the right measure, we can slowly but surely steer our emotional responses until the emotional response is adequate. So, follow your heart, only when your heart is right.

Still the virtuous person is not yet guaranteed a happy, fufilled life. The ultimate human needs are beyond this material world. We need a love that we are incapable to offer, a hope we are unable to build and believing truths beyond our capacity to proof. Humans remain an unfinished project open to a fulfillment beyond our own capacities. Could that fulfilment exist? Or are our hearts condemened to be hopelessly restless?