Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Getting to the Heart of the Matter

broken-heart1The heart is
the only broken instrument
that works. 
~T.E. Kalem




The heart is a very tricky thing. It is muscle that begins to beat about 21 days after conception, pumping blood throughout our bodies. If it stopped beating our bodies would wither up and die. If it were to become “broken” our emotional being would feel like it was dying and hurt tremendously. I guess it is safe to say that without it we could neither live nor love.

Recently I took a trip to the E.R. My heart was racing; beating so hard inside my chest that it hurt. Occasionally it would pause, tense up and then punch me as hard as it could. Let me tell you, being punched from the inside out is no picnic. So a few volunteer fire fighters/EMTs, some flashing lights and one semi-fast ambulance ride soon found me laid out in a cold E.R. room attached to an I.V. and an E.K.G. machine. After being poked, prodded, x-rayed and tested I was diagnosed with Atrial Tachycardia and PVCs. A fancy way of saying that I had an elevated heart rate and occasional heart contractions. Thanks in part to a lifestyle that could be healthier and brought on by stress. Needless to say … I’m going to live.

However, my heart trouble was nothing compared to what my daughter was going through. Amby was suffering from her first true broken heart. Through tears she explained what had happened and how deeply she was hurting. I listened as she told me how hard it was to breathe and that her heart literally hurt from the break-up. Days after it had happened she was still physically shaken. She couldn’t eat, was sick to her stomach, and cried because of the pain she was feeling. We have all been there and lived through it. Even though at the time it seemed like we wouldn’t survive one more day.

I thought that if I could keep Amby’s spirits up until the pain went away everything would be fine.  I hopped on the internet in search of a few quotes or some other inspirational words. Have you ever Googled “mending a broken heart” ?  I actually found a site called Heal My Broken Heart. Interestingly enough, it offers a 15-step program (complete with book and workbook) to assist you in healing from a broken heart. If you act now the program is only $47 as opposed to its normal price of $67. Seriously??? It is just as efficient if you take 1/4 of that money and buy yourself some ice cream, rent a sappy movie and hang with your gal pals.

There are a ton of sites, free ones I might add, that offer advice on how to overcome heart issues (both figuratively and literally). While WebMD helped me out  I found a few for Amby to look over. They cover everything from meditation, and “step” programs, to daily/weekly/monthly to-do instructions.

Mending a heart is very challenging and takes love and tenderness. It also takes a lot of patience and a healthy lifestyle. Regardless of whether it is physical or emotional it also takes time.

Here’s to a healthy heart …

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