Your heart is your body’s headquarters. Without a functioning healthy heart, your body and you cannot survive. But we aren’t talking about clogged arteries… We’re talking about your emotional health.
Heartbreak comes in many forms. Many of us have been hurt or betrayed by people and opportunities that we invested our hearts in. It can feel impossible to get out of bed the next day or ever trust again. But you must keep going.
We’re going to give you 3 simple, yet effective strategies for keeping and maintaining a healthy heart. These are not quick overnight fixes, and they’re easier said than done, but if put into practice, you will notice a change in yourself and your life.
#1: Find out who your true friends are.
Many of us rotate between various social circles and groups of people, and everyone seems nice on the surface. But everyone who smiles at you does not necessarily have your best interests at heart. Try to really pay attention to how people you consider your friends act when you’re high and when you’re low, when you get a promotion or lose a job, enter a new relationship, or end one. Their initial response will be their authentic one. In order to keep a healthy heart, you want to surround yourself with people who are on your team, and will be solid like roots, not wavy like leaves.
#2: Find a way to express your feelings.
One of the best and most effective ways to maintain a healthy heart is to never hold your emotions inside. When you swallow your feelings, they have nowhere to go but your mind, and you can easily create a negative narrative in your head as to how loved and valued you really are. So find a way to express your emotions, be it journaling, meditating, praying, writing poetry, writing music, talking to a friend, or talking to a therapist. If you can find an outlet for your emotions, it will be easier for you to understand and manage them.
#3: Be kinder to yourself.
Our last, and personally, favorite strategy for maintaining a healthy heart is to just be kinder to yourself. You are a human, which means you will make mistakes. You will mess up. But your mistakes and your past do not define who you are. We are constantly evolving and growing and that takes time and patience. Just like plants, we need water and nutrients to help us on the inside and sunlight to warm us on the outside. Learn how to rest; do not drive yourself into the ground trying to meet deadlines. If someone offers to take care of you or bring you food because they’re worried about you, let them.
We hope you find these strategies useful!
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