Achy-Breaky Hearts

 Many men alive today have lived inside a dream before, where all things are possible and there isn’t a care in the world. It’s called ‘Innocence of Youth’. At this point in life the human being’s problems aren’t that many or are non-existent so life is good. One lives for the moment, having the times of his life. At every opportunity he chases pleasure and has as much fun as possible. He is oblivious to the pain of those around him. The future looks bright and life is as good as it can get.

Then one day the bubble bursts! The unconscious mind is jolted as the box of life is stirred. A bad medical report tells them they will not after all live forever. A pregnant girlfriend tells them their days of fun are over and they need to start planning for a family. Or the death of a badly loved relation reaches out, grasps their heart and squeezes so very hard that their breathe is stopped for a time.

Different people deal with such changes in their circumstances, or environment if you must, differently. Some crash their car, jump off a cliff or hang themselves on a tree feeling the change is simply too much to bear. Others simply shrug it off as simply one of those things that happen in life and continue to live their lives the best way they can, doing what they know to do.

Very few come out of such a radical life change without feeling bitter about the blow life has dealt them. They make the occurrence a central focus of their lives and everything in their future is referred back to that one time when everything was rosy till life decided to change its mind about things. They carry their pain and bitterness for the rest of their lives and it over time makes them bitter and hard-hearted people.

Yet there are others for whom the pain just gets so overwhelming that they go numb. They withdraw from life and cease to care. They turn their lives over to wickedness and all sorts of folly just so they can forget their pain or prove they are alive. That’s the thing about what is called ‘the threshold of pain’. The human body will only endure pain up to a certain degree. Anything more than that and the human body will just switch off and feel no more.

It’s really easy to point and judge on what would be the best thing to do in these cases of disaster. But really, what does one do when the rug of life is pulled up from under you? What does one do when pain, hurt, trouble and adversity come knocking on your door as you were minding your own business, and the situation is so difficult that no family member or best friend can help you?

For me there is one thing that I do in the midst of a storm. I recite in my head a piece of scripture i discovered and picked up years ago along the way: “Trust in the Lord your God with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV).

I have discovered that I may not always understand why every once in a while my life is turned upside down. But I have learnt to surrender it all to God. I tell him I don’t understand why my life sucks at the time and that I don’t know how to get out of such a mess. And every time I see Him get me through one way or another.

To those who are bitter at heart: It’s about time you let the past go and concentrated on the life you have and those you have around you right now. That bitterness poisons your soul and, though you may not know it, it poisons your entire life as well leaving you with a handful of joys in life when you can have hundreds.

To those who have withdrawn and are numb:  If you do not feel then you are not alive. For feeling is the only thing that makes us respond to our environment, responding to our environment is the only proof  we have that we are alive and kicking as a person and not merely existing. So allow your heart to cry a river, allow it to laugh hard and allow yourself to love someone or something.

It is in the nature of life for every person’s life to be turned upside down every once in a while no matter how cool and collected some look all the time. Only a few things I can say about that:

1) Keep your hearts pure and free from all bitterness, anger, rage or sorrow. For only those that are pure of heart shall see God, so says the Holy Bible (Mathews 5:8).

2) Trust in the Lord your God and lean not on your own understanding of what you are seeing or experiencing. It is not always possible to see hope in such confusing times of turmoil, pain and hurt. But praying and leaving it all to God lifts the burdens from our hearts for at least he knows what the heck is going on even if we don’t. And at least we can trust him to lead us on a right path for he at least is all-knowing, all-powerful and all-merciful. Almighty indeed.