Muscles

The heart is a muscle.
Physiologically that’s a known fact. But It’s also true that in most cultures the heart is considered the center of our emotional sphere.
Let’s look back at the first statement though, and build on that a little. We know a lot of things about muscles: if you stress a muscle too much it will hurt, potentially resulting in serious damage; a muscle’s ability to perform increases with regular exercise; without regular use they experience atrophy, temporary or irreversible depending on how long the inactivity lasts; using a muscle for the first time in a while will result in pain too, but that kind of pain is almost considered “good” pain, any sport enthusiast knows that it’s a sign of the muscles building up to the condition needed to perform.
Although this list could go on, let’s stop here and look back at the other meaning of “Heart”, the emotional meaning. Does what we know about muscles apply to the heart as well? I would argue that in most cases it does. Some people are naturally more inclined to love, and love in a more powerful way, just like some people are more naturally fit and better athletes than others. It’s also true though that anybody can become a better athlete with exercise, and along the same lines I believe that anybody can improve the way they deal with love and emotions by exercising them. Incidentally, the euphoric feeling that you experience when you’re in love is similar to the feeling you get during and after a strong physical performance.
Of course doing sports is hard work, and the fear of injuries, or the sore muscles, can be enough to scare some people, pushing them away from the opportunity to have a healthier body. It’s also true that those who get past those fears find great joy and satisfaction, and look back to their own “lazy” days as missed opportunities.
The heart is the same way: everybody knows love hurts.
A lot of people also know that it’s a worthwhile pain.
mahalo

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