Fifteen Things Worse Than a Broken Heart

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I can think of fifteen things worse than a broken heart. And I haven't even gotten out of the communicable diseases yet. Cholera. Dysentery. Typhoid. AIDS. Pregnancy. Malaria. Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. Scabies. Syphilis. West Nile Virus. Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. Meningitis. Tuberculosis. Small Pox. And Chiggers. A broken heart heals. Some of those diseases don't.

Truly there have to be hundreds or maybe even thousands of things worse than a broken heart. I guess it's this perspective (perhaps otherwise known as a rationalization) that makes me somewhat fearless when it comes to heart break. I've survived, lived to tell, and I'd do it all over again if given the chance. That includes courtship, love, ugly break up, and subsequent devastation. It all passes quickly enough. All of it.

It's not that I embrace it, the idea of heartbreak. I don't. I just accept it as a fact of life, an eventuality, an inevitability. All good (and bad) things come to an end sooner or later. Sometimes this end comes with a sigh of relief. Other times with desolation, anxiety, and depression. It's not that I'm a fatalist. I am nothing of the kind. I am merely a realist. I truly believe that 'nothing lasts forever no matter how it feels today'. This makes me thankful for the good times because I know that they are potentially fleeting. It also allows me to take the bad times in stride because I know they won't last forever.

In addition, heart break almost always comes with a stint on The Break Up Diet. I have long maintained that fitness is the absolutely best revenge. Plus a new-and-improved body can help pump up self-esteem left decimated by a nasty break up. It's perfect really, a win-win. 'You dumped me and now I'm even hotter than I was when we were together. And that new girl? Yeah, good luck with that'. Recovery doesn't happen by accident. It takes time and a bit of swagger.  When I can finally say, "Fuck you" (and mean it) and "Go me" (and mean it), I know that I'm pretty much on my way back.

The key is perspective and a good rationalization. Survival leads to peace which leads to fearlessness which leads to believing that there are at least a hundred things worse than a broken heart. Which means that you are well on the way to your next broken heart. When it happens, you may wish that you had cholera or tuberculosis instead. Just give it a minute. Take a look at your Break Up Diet inspired body in the mirror and you'll see. There are worse things than a broken heart.

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