The spirit (the intellect), the heart and the will (the guts)
Well-being is the result of a sublime balance that we cultivate either by healthy habits or by a favorable environment to develop it. Our human nature forces us to explore the various dimensions of our being. Disorder appears when we neglect one or more dimensions of what makes us human. The school aims to develop our intellect. School no longer seeks to educate our heart as it used to do, it cultivates our intelligence while encouraging a certain passivity and docility to facilitate our future adherence to the working world.
The intellect (our skills) is what we will trade for a salary
The heart is a precious ally when making life choices. It is the backbone of our being. Thinking according to firmly held values helps us to be more discerning in our most trivial and fundamental choices.
Without an education of our moral values, we expose ourselves sooner or later to one or more identity crises which are born above all from the loss of meaning in our existence.
Willpower is equally important, it is the mark of our initiative and perseverance. Increasing our willpower means taking on the challenge of the difficulties that come our way. Willpower is cultivated in the midst of hardship, uncertainty and sometimes even chaos. Everyday annoyances can be solved in a subtle cocktail of our intellect, our heart and our will.
Sometimes, it is because we do not use our heart that we struggle to understand and solve a problem. In another case, it is the lack of hindsight and reflection that prevents us from seeing things clearly, the will alone is not enough. Finally, it can be the absence of risk-taking, the lack of initiative that prevents us from moving forward in other cases.
Being aware of these three dimensions of being
Being aware of these three dimensions of being can be useful to solve daily challenges. The problem is that we often call upon only one of these resources to help us, which leads us to a dead end.
Any activity requires all three of these elements if we are to excel. Thus, to be a good athlete, one must not only have a will of steel, but also have heart and intelligence. Of course, there are activities that will appeal more to one of these resources, let’s see some examples. To develop the intellect, one can read, write, debate, attend conferences, watch instructive videos, listen to podcasts, meditate, etc. To develop the heart, one can pray, help one’s neighbor, practice selfless action, practice sports with a moral vocation (martial arts etc.), meditate, cultivate a connection with the transcendent etc. The will can be strengthened in different ways: through sports, entrepreneurship, studies, practicing activities that expose us to some form of danger (combat sports etc.) etc.
