Why Your Heart Aches when it Breaks

I thought this was a very interesting article and worth passing on.

Why Your Heart Aches when it Breaks
Ever have a heartache? A throbbing pride that feels like it’s going to burst your chest? New research on social emotions like empathy and appreciation has shown that the way people describe potent feelings is more than metaphor: It’s scientifically accurate.

People experiencing admiration or compassion in the brain will ‘recruit’ nearby neurons to help them feel the emotion physically,” reports Search (July-Aug. 2009). “Intriguingly, the neural systems that get recruited often link to the body’s guts and viscera.” When terrible news punches you in the stomach, your brain helps you quite literally suffer the blow.

The findings come courtesy of a team of researchers led by University of Southern California psychologist Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, who took the somewhat unusual step of researching positive social emotions after working as a junior high school teacher made her curious about how inspiration functions. There’s a disproportionate amount of research into fear and aggression, Search explains, because for brain scientists those emotions are “low-hanging fruit.” Easy to induce, simple to spot on an MRI.

Social emotions like compassion, however, are a uniquely human trait; no other creatures share them. Unlocking them requires some strategy—Immordino-Yang found it difficult to consistently “move” subjects—but the results lend insight into the very core of being human.

Angry

*names have been changed to protect the guilty*
On Friday, my friend Amanda told me that her co-worker's daycare provider, Jessica, was pregnant. Jessica just had a baby in June. My thoughts were, "Wow, Jessica is sure going to be busy with two littles ones so close in age." Before I could voice those thoughts, Amanda told me that Jessica was driving across the state to get an abortion because she "couldn't afford another kid." Even though Stacy (Amanda's co-worker) told Jessica that she thought what she was doing was wrong, and that it would haunt her for the rest of her life, and that there were many people out there who would adopt that baby. None of the pleas of Stacy could deter Jessica from murdering her preborn baby. Saturday morning, she drove across the state and had a "procedure" (I love how we can call murder a "procedure" ~ has a nice clean innocent sound to it huh? When really this "procedure" leaves one dead and one wounded for life) ~ this same day, an acquaintance from my home church lost their tiny baby boy.
Yes I felt like screaming and shaking my fist at God....ummmm HELLO? Is anyone home NOW? Why not let the baby who was so wanted live, and let the baby who was "unwanted" pass peacefully before his/her mother could kill him/her?
Why have I not come to grips that life will never make sense? That horrid things will happen all the time and there is nothing I can do to stop or prevent them?
On days like this, life seems so futile.

Prayer After Miscarriage or Stillbirth

Prayer After Miscarriage or Stillbirth


God, we are weary and grieved. We were anticipating the birth of a child, but the promise of life was ended too soon. Our arms yearned to cradle new life, our mouths to sing soft lullabies. Our hearts ache from the emptiness and the silence. We are saddened and we are angry. We weep and we mourn. Weep with us, God, Creator of Life, for the life that could not be.



Source of healing, help us to find healing among those who care for us and those for whom we care. Shelter us under wings of love and help us to stand up again for life even as we mourn our loss.



Author Unknown