Prescription For Heartache

There is indeed a “prescription” for heartache. One element in the prescription is physical activity. The sufferer must avoid the temptation to sit and brood. A sensible program which substitutes physical activity for such fruitless brooding reduces the strain on the area of the mind where we reflect, philosophize and suffer mental pain. Muscular activity utilizes another part of the brain and therefore shifts the strain and gives relief.

Whatever the character of your heartache, one of the first steps is to resolve to get back into the mainstream of life’s activities. Take up your old associations. Form new ones. Get busy walking, riding, swimming, playing—get the blood to coursing through your system. Lose yourself in some worthwhile project. Fill your days with creative activity and emphasize the physical aspect of activity. Employ healthy mind-relieving busyness, but be sure that it is of a worthwhile and constructive nature. Superficial escapism through feverish activity, as, for example, parties and drinking, merely deadens pain temporarily and does not heal.

An excellent and normal release from heartache is to give way to grief. It is natural to cry when pain or sorrow comes. This is a relief mechanism provided in the body by Almighty God and should be used. A good cry is a release from heartache. I should warn, however, that this mechanism should not be used unduly nor allowed to become habitual. Should that happen, it partakes of the nature of abnormal grief and could become a psychosis.

A secret of curing heartache is to be as normal and natural as possible. This does not imply disloyalty or indifference. This policy is important in avoiding a state of abnormal grief. Normal sorrow is a natural process and its normality is evidenced by the ability of the individual to return to his usual pursuits and responsibilities and continue therein as formerly.

The deeper remedy for heartache, of course, is the curative comfort supplied by trust in God. Inevitably the basic prescription for heartache is to turn to God in an attitude of faith and empty the mind and heart to Him. Perseverance in the act of spiritual self-emptying will finally bring healing to the broken heart.

Another profoundly curative element in the prescription for heartache is to gain a sound and satisfying philosophy of life and death and deathlessness.