Have you heard the story about the old man and the young man and their hearts?
Let me paraphrase this amazing story.
One day there was a young man standing in the middle of town, proclaiming he had the most beautiful heart. Everyone in town agreed with him, he did have the most perfect heart as there was no flaw or mark in it. But one old man appeared in front of him and proclaimed he had a more beautiful heart than the young man. The crowd that had gathered and the young man, all looked at the old man’s heart. The old man’s heart was beating strong and well, but it was full of scars. His heart had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces had been put in, but they didn’t quite fit right and there were places with jagged edges. The young man laughed. Laughed at him! And then he asked if the old man was joking?
The young man proclaimed to everyone in the town to compare his heart with the old man’s. The young man’s heart was perfect, and the old man’s was a mess of scars. Most everyone in town agreed.
Even the old man agreed with the young man, saying the young man’s heart was perfect looking, but that he would never trade his own heart with him. He explained that every scar represented a person for whom he had given his love, and often that person would give a piece of their heart back to him. But it would not fit into the empty place perfectly, so the pieces were not exact and there were the jagged edges. The old man went on to say that sometimes he gave a piece of his heart away and the other person did not return that love, and so there were also empty places in his heart. But, you have to give love a chance. He continued with the explanation that the gouges are painful and they stay open, reminding him of the love he had for these people he hoped one day would return, and thus why some spaces in his heart were not filled. He then asked the young man, “Now do you see what true beauty is?”
The young man stood silently for a moment. He walked up to the old man, with tears streaming down his cheeks. He reached into his perfect heart and ripped a piece out and offered it to the old man. The old man took the piece and placed it in his heart. And then he reached into his own scarred heart and returned a piece of it to the young man. The piece fit, but not perfectly. There were some jagged edges. The young man looked at his heart, it was not perfect anymore but it was more beautiful than he had seen before, since love from the old man flowed into him now.
I love this story! How many people can relate to this? As we grow, we learn and we experience and we…hopefully, love! All those jagged edges are trophies. All those empty spots are adventures, whether you felt they were good or not. Take a moment and bring back an amazing memory. How do you feel? What is happening in the memory? What are the smells? The colours you see? Who are the people around you? Now celebrate that you are alive and well in this exact moment. Remember, your heart is beautiful and I am sure it will be even more beautiful as you continue to have more adventures in your life.
