We are here to be a vessel of love. We are meant to fly and look at other with the eyes of love.
The only person that stops that flow of love, is ourselves.
When we are not the vessel of love, something has gone wrong.
When we say someone has hurt us, it temps us to close our hearts.
When are hearts are closed it hurts, because we are meant to have an open heart.
When we have a broken heart, we close our hearts to others and all that pain that is inside only really hurts us.
Our heart is synonymous with love
- have a heart - be merciful
- change of heart - change your mind
- to know something by heart - memorize something
- broken heart - to lose love
- heartfelt - deeply felt
- have your heart in the right place - to be kind
- cry your heart out - to grieve
- heavy heart - sadness
- have your heart set on - to want something badly
What happens when our heart is broken? How do I unclose my heart, and how do I get rid of the pain?
Here is the physical example of how a heart is supposed to function compared to when the heart is not working right:
The heart has three layers. The smooth, inside lining of the heart is called the
endocardium. The middle layer of heart muscle is called the
myocardium. It is surrounded by a fluid filled sac call the
pericardium.
We know that the heart is like a pump, to pump our blood throughout our body and provides the needed oxygen for our system.
We also know that there are valves, ventricles. This complex muscles goes like this:
The blood flows:
- to the superior and inferior vena cava,
- then to the right atrium
- through the tricuspid valve
- to the right ventricle
- through the pulmonic valve
- to the pulmonary artery
- to the lungs
When our heart does not function properly, we get weak, short of breath, we get dizzy, cough in the attempt to increase our oxygen, and a weak heart can effect every aspect of our body, our brain, our sleep, and our movements. The most common cause of heart disease is a narrowing of or blockage in the coronary arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle (coronary artery disease). Almost 2,000 Americans die of heart disease each day. That is one death every 44 seconds.
This is caused by the narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries caused by atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis (sometimes called “hardening” or “clogging” of the arteries) is the buildup of cholesterol and fatty deposits (called plaque) on the inner walls of the arteries that restricts blood flow to the heart. Without adequate blood, the heart becomes starved of oxygen and the vital nutrients it needs to work properly. This can cause chest pain called angina.
Lets go a little deeper: When fat builds up inside your arteries it causes slight injury to your blood vessel walls. In an attempt to heal the blood vessel walls, the cells release chemicals that make the blood vessel walls stickier. Other substances traveling through your blood stream, such as inflammatory cells, cellular waste products, proteins and calcium, begin to stick to the vessel walls. The fat and other substances combine to form a material called plaque.
Many of the plaque deposits are soft on the inside with a hard fibrous “cap” covering the outside. If the hard surface cracks or tears, the soft, fatty inside is exposed. Platelets (disc-shaped particles in the blood that aid clotting) come to the area, and blood clots form around the plaque.
If a blood clot totally blocks the blood supply to the heart muscle, the heart muscle becomes "starved" for oxygen and nutrients in the region below the blockage. Within a short time, an acute coronary attack can occur.
Now, why did I go through all that detail, of things you probably already know? Because I want to make an analogy, that part of the heart we call ourselves; our other heart.
Now imagine, our "other heart" or ourselves has three layers, a layer deep inside, a middle layer and an outer layer. We have our own layers too. The surface, with those passing by followed by nod's, and hello's. You know the small and sweet conversations at the grocery store line. We have our middle layer, the one where we someone in just a bit, our colleagues or our neighbors and sometimes that middle layer for us, could even be our friends and family. Then we have the deeper layer, the one where no man can hardly go, but a given few.
It is at this layer, where the damage can be the most dangerous. First, we have a little fatty tissue develop, then our layer, "becomes sticky" but we let it ride, keep on going and if at that point, we do not see the danger, and forgive, look at the other with love...that stickiness, starts to get hard with "calicum..." (plaque) making the deep layer fragile and open for cracks or tears. And if it goes untended and cared for, BOOM, our hearts become closed and blocked.
This is where the pain comes in, both physically as in a heart attack and emotionally in our other hearts.
When does the person start to heal from a heart attack and is the healing process?
(These facts are taken from: http://www.holisticonline.com/Remedies/Heart/heart_attack_life-after-2-healing-heart.htm)
When a person heals from a heart attack, the healing starts,
as soon as the blood flow is restored.
- White blood corpuscles enter the damaged heart muscle and remove the dead (heart) cells.
- Gradually, scar tissue forms on the area of your heart that was deprived of oxygen during the attack.
- This scar tissue is different than the normal heart tissue. It does not contract like normal heart muscle or adds to the heart's pumping action.
- The amount of tissue that is injured depends on the size of the area that is supplied by the blocked artery and how long the artery stayed blocked.
- It is normal for you to feel very tired for the first one or two weeks after your heart attack.
- It takes time to rebuild your strength.
- Take it easy and get plenty of rest.
- Slowly resume your normal activities.
- Space your activities.
- Take time to rest if you get tired.
For our "other heart" the healing process starts....
- As soon as we open the doors! As soon as we open our hearts! As soon as the closed heart stops being closed! As soon as we decide to become vessels of love.
- Our own blood, heals itself! Imagine. Once we open the doors, the pain starts to go away and we feel like we can breathe again! The process of healing commences.
- Yes, there is scar tissue, scar tissue is a sign of healing. Our scar tissue is different than what we had before. Isn't it wonderful that we can look at that scar as a reminder of something that is healed, a new birth or a death of that old pain, cramping you up inside?
- The amount of scar tissue, depends on the size of the area...the amount of pain, the amount of hurt, how much our stomach churned and how long we remained closed.
How do we open our closed heart?
The only way that I can have my own heart healed, is to be a healing agent to others. By being a healing agent to others, I start to open up, and let the blood flow. I start to breathe again, smile again, by giving and forgiving.
