Baby grand...
A cactus in the shape of a heart?
During a morning walk, I saw this little piece of irony along the walking path. Upon seeing the cactus, I had an "aha moment" and thought that it was the perfect combination of protection and softness...and a natural expression of the state of our hearts most of the time. We put walls up to protect us, to protect our hearts.
Scripture even advises us to do this..."Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." (Proverbs 4:23 NIV).
Unfortunately this "strategy" is usually implemented only after our heart has already been bruised or broken.
Fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice, shame on me.
Once we experience the gut-wrenching pain of a broken heart, we vow to never let anyone do that to us again, to never allow ourselves to go through that pain so we develop "spines" and build walls to keep the remaining pieces of our heart protected and future hurts at bay. For some, that growth comes a bit slower, after their heart has taken multiple hits; for those few individuals who can truly "turn the other cheek" and "forgive and forget"...or whose "character radar" is more fine-tuned, those walls or spines never develop. Their hearts remain intact and beat free from any emotional scarring.
Regardless of which "bucket" you find yourself, consider yourself lucky. If your radar is better than most and your heart has never been broken, be thankful you were spared the pain. If your heart is on the mend or was broken but healed, "never be ashamed of your scars because it simply means you were stronger than what tried to hurt you" (author unknown).
And regardless, be thankful for nature's little gems that speak to us per se and touch our souls.
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