The human heart. It's such a vital part of the body's functioning system. Without it pushing the blood through your veins, you would not be here. Not only is it a functioning organ, but it is used in reference to a range of emotions.
Emotions? How can a heart feel emotions?
I can feel mine beating.
It responds in relation to many things that my body is exposed to. When I run, it feels like it's going to slam out of my chest wall that protects it. When I'm scared or angry, it picks up pace; when I'm resting, it slows down. All these changes affect the other organ systems working together to keep me alive.
The human heart will beat over 2.5 billion times in the average person's lifetime. That's a lot of work, not to mention all the love it feels, all the times it is broken into a million pieces. How can it function if it is broken into a million pieces?
Who decided the heart was to be the main focus of so many feelings? I love you with all of my heart, my heart beats only for you, my heart aches for you, my heart is so full of love, I gave you my heart, you broke my heart, my heart is empty, my heart is broken, and bless your heart.
All this for another person?
It is MY heart.
It makes MY body work.
I can't live without it.
If it's broken, how can it work like it's supposed to?
It is used in reference to life and death. When a baby is born, or someone gets married, our hearts are happy for them. When someone we know dies, our hearts ache for the loss we are feeling. How can someone else have so much power over another person's body organ?
Trust.
We can't touch it, we can't smell it, we can't hear it, but it is a vital part of our everyday lives. Is it only for people? What about objects or things? Can we function without it? What happens when it is lost or broken? Can we get it back, or is it forever tainted? How is it built? Trust is defined as a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.
We begin learning how to trust from the day we are born. If we are nurtured and cared for attentively and lovingly by our parents, we will learn to feel safe. It's safe to say that this is one of the first things our parents teach us – hopefully. It's also safe to say that trust is one of the first building blocks of who we will become as a person. What happens to those infants who are unfortunate enough to have parents who are unable to care for them in a nurturing way? Is this what teaches people to break someone's trust? Is this why some people trust everyone and others trust no one? Do we trust the homeless person on the street corner with a cardboard sign asking for money? Do we trust the little old lady sitting next to us on the subway? Does the child who is learning how to ride their bike trust that their mom running next to them holding the bike upright won't let them fall? Trust is such a big part of our everyday life, just as our beating heart is.
Trust goes back to the heart. I trust you with all my heart. When trust is broken, often, our heart is broken too. They seem to be connected by emotions. Emotions power them both.
Why then do we give our heart and trust so easily when we know it can end up causing us so much pain?
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