Tip: Tell your heart to beat again!

Tip of the Week
01/14/13

Tip: Tell your heart to beat again!

Recently I heard a wonderful story that I wanted to share with you.  It seems there was a woman by the name of Mary who needed a heart transplant.  She had gone through all the required preparatory work to be sure that the heart transplant would be successful.  An appropriate donor match had been found and all the necessary blood types had been checked and re-checked.

At the appointed time, Mary went in for surgery and everything was going smoothly.  The surgeon took all of the necessary steps and followed all the standard procedures for this type of major procedure.  All of the veins and arteries were connected correctly and the expected outcome was that the heart would begin to beat again as the blood flowed through it and warmed it up.  Because the heart is such an incredible organ, it seems to know what to do when it is healthy and blood flows through it correctly.  However, during this particular procedure, something went wrong.  Even though all of the blood was flowing as it should, the heart would not seem to “fire” on its own.

The surgeon waited for a few seconds as he massaged the heart gently, hoping to give it the necessary stimulus to get it started.  Because time was precious, every second mattered.  Even though the heart was being massaged, it would not beat on its own.  The next step was to apply electrical shock.  The defibrillator was used to “jump start” the heart, but still nothing happened.  Being concerned that he might lose his patient, the skilled and seasoned surgeon walked to the head of the operating table, leaned over and whispered into her ear, “Mary, I need you to tell your heart to beat again.”  There was such silence in the operating room that you could have heard a pin drop as everyone anxiously waited to see what would happen.

Shortly after the physician said those words into Mary’s ear, the monitor began to jump, indicating that her heart had begun to beat and she made it successfully through the surgery.

Now, I don’t know what you think about that story, but I remember how it touched me when I heard it.  It struck me that sometimes it is necessary for a person to tell their heart to beat again – not only in the physical realm, but also in the realm of personal relationships, family relationships, and business relationships.  When we have been hurt and damaged badly, it often seems that our emotional heart has been literally broken into pieces.  That is when it becomes necessary for us to encourage ourselves; to tell our hearts to beat again.

You may have gone through a difficult set-back in a relationship, or lost money this past year, or had circumstances and challenges come your way that made you want to give up.  I have been there myself, at times.  But, that is when I have had to say to my heart, “You need to beat again!”

There are so many ways that we can talk to our own heart to help us, regardless of what we have encountered in life.  We must say to ourselves, “You need to love again.”  We must say, “You need to forgive again.”  We must say, “You need to dream again.”  We must say, “You need to laugh again.”  We must say, “You need to smile again.”  I realize that I am being repetitious, but I want to emphasize my point.  We must take the time to say these things to ourselves in order to speak words of life into our own heart and mind.

This is the beginning of a brand new year.  It holds endless opportunities for us all.  However, I can assure you that things will not go well if you live a defeated, “thumb-sucking,” negative, critical, doom-and-gloom, “woe-is-me” life every day!  You have to learn to look for the good, the pure, and the positive in all that you do!

Those aren’t just nice words.  Those are not pie-in-the-sky words filled with platitudes.  They are words of reality.  It is great when we say something nice to another person and when someone says something nice to us, but we have to remember that nothing is better than speaking words of life into our own heart and being on our own team in this thing called life.

Regardless of what has happened in your past, I want to encourage you to let your heart beat again.  Let it beat harder and stronger and be full of more life this year than ever before.  That is the formula for having a great day, a great week, a great month, a great year, and a great life!  I guarantee it!

Tip: Tell your heart to beat again!
Have a great week!  God bless you!
Dr. Robert A. Rohm