Everything matters.
Everything.
And often the little things we barely notice matter far more that the big.
When I was about 19 years old I broke the second and third metatarsals in my left foot. It took over six months for my foot to fully heal. It still aches sometimes. There is no comparison between the pain of an aching foot and that of an aching heart, however there is no doubt that they are both pain.
Did you know that taking pain medication has been shown to ease emotional pain? {Don’t misinterpret my saying that as an endorsement of taking pain medication to soothe a broken heart, it absolutely is not.}
I gleaned that fascinating tidbit of information from “Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior“, by Professor Mark Leary Ph.D. of Duke University. If you’re the least interested in psychology and the mysterious forces that make us do the seemingly inexplicable things we do you should take the time to listen to this course. It is simply outstanding.
While we can say we’ll forget yesterday, is that a wise thing to do? I think we might be better served by remembering how fragile emotions are, and how when we inadvertently hurt the ones we love, we invariably hurt ourselves as well. Perhaps that is the proof of what so many say, yet which I find so difficult to accept. Namely, that we must care for ourself if we are to care for others too.
