Michelle Goldshlag

Patient progress for heart, home, and humanity.

Your Heart; Your Wellspring

The definition of wellspring is: the original and bountiful source of something.

The original source signifying the birthplace of something and the bountiful source signifying the abundance of something.

Is your heart the birthplace of life? Is it providing abundance?

I believe your heart is your wellspring of life and therefor should be cherished, nourished, and strengthened.

Your heart; your functional wellspring

Recently I had a conversation with a friend and colleague who shared the tremendous grief she faced after losing her young husband during a sudden heart attack. In one small moment, while laying next to him, her husband went from having life to being void of life.

The function of your heart alone is a birthplace for life. The adult human heart pumps five quarts of blood per minute! This is 2,000 gallons of blood each day.

During each of its 100,000 pumps per day your heart is supplying oxygen and other nutrients throughout your vascular system which includes 60,000 miles of blood vessels. Want to take a guess at how long it takes to get through this 60,000 mile track???

Twenty seconds!

I hope we can agree that your heart is a functional wellspring of life. Knowing this should impact your life choices. Taking care of your heart means nourishing your body in a healthy way and strengthening your heart through exercise.

Your heart; your relational wellspring

It is a rather abstract concept to compare our loss or love of another in relation to our heart; yet we do this all the time.

When you are in love your heart is full and at times you feel like it could burst. When you experience great loss, as my friend did, your heart is broken and you wonder whether you will survive.

While this is a rather abstract concept there are studies to show your hearts ability to lead a “concert of communication” between your heart, your brain, and your body.

Your heart is not just a functional wellspring for your physical body to maintain life. It is also a source for emotion that helps to define who you are and how you will relate to others.

Your heart; your spiritual wellspring

Humans are soulful and have a natural tendency toward spirituality; whatever it looks like. A recent pew research study shows the majority of people in the U.S pray. In many cases prayer provides people a way to connect with their god. Our faith connects our heart to the divine. This connection supports a system of morals and values that we try to follow on earth.

As a Christian, I learn and extract a system of morals and values from the Bible. The word “heart” is mentioned hundreds of times in the Bible. There are many nuanced meanings for the word. In most cases it is not speaking about the organ that is pumping blood to keep me alive.

Instead, the word heart is explained as the source for: meditation (Psalm 119:4), our words (Proverbs 16:23-24), our actions (Matthew 15:19), and our relationships with others (John 15:13).

John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”. This verse does not have the word “heart” in it, but it has everything to do with Jesus’s heart. This verse is the epitome of my faith and the reason why I am so invested in personal growth, relationship building, and human impact: it is about sacrifice.

Regardless of who you believe Jesus is: a prophet, a teacher, a good person, or God’s son, he believed he was the son of God and he willingly chose to lay down his life for humanity. He believed he was giving up his mortal and functional heart to suffer an unbearable execution for the sake of humanity. He believed he was sacrificing his relationships for the sake of humanity. He believed he was going to suffer a spiritual separation from God for the sake of humanity.

I believe my heart is pumping for a purpose that will directly impact humanity and will continue to pump until my work here is done. I believe the same is true for you. However, I also believe the value of our impact is directly related to our heart.

The ability to authentically care, to joyfully serve, and to willingly sacrifice cannot come without a heart that is full of love, purpose, and hope. These gifts of love, purpose, and hope cannot come without taking time to cherish, nourish, and strengthen your heart.

Your heart; your wellspring

Understanding the complexities of your human heart is one thing, making a choice to cherish, nourish, and strengthen it is another.

I have made a choice to focus on patient progress. Through faith, fitness, and framily (no this is not a typo), I will learn to cherish, nourish, and strengthen my heart. Will you join me?

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