Lesson #9

Heartache is real. But really, it’s worth it.

All of my life I’ve been listening to songs about people with “broken hearts.” I always thought it was just one of those poetic sounding metaphors. Yeah, you hurt because you don’t have someone anymore and you miss them and it sucks. Broken heart...sure, that sounds comparable to that. Well, I’m here to tell you it’s not just a metaphor. It is for real.

When your heart is broken, you literally feel a pain in your chest. Maybe it doesn’t feel like your heart has been ripped or shredded into pieces, but it feels like something is missing. Or at least that’s what my experience has been.

You just ache, physically and emotionally, and there isn’t much that makes it feel better. Sometimes keeping busy so you don’t think about it works, but that’s only temporary relief. You’re only fighting it. At the end of the day, as you climb in bed, all you can do is curl up into the fetal position and pray that sleep comes soon so you can escape reality.

Yes, dramatic, I know. But that’s how I’ve felt. Yes, slowly it gets better and you heal, but not before it has sucked a lot.

So then, why? Why do we do this to ourselves? Why would we ever subject ourselves to the possibility of being hurt and going through this pain?

Because love is worth it.

There is nothing greater than love. Maybe I’m being a bit Moulin Rouge-ish, but isn’t that what we’re looking for in life? Maybe you disagree, but that’s what I think.

So when you’re aching with a broken heart, just think about how happy you once were. How happy you can be again one day. And, maybe not in the moment, you’ll know that the pain was worth the joy.