Live with an open heart

While at the gym, I saw an interview of Hollywood actress Jane Seymour by Kathie Lee and Hoda in Today. I noticed that she has aged through the years, most certainly from the time she starred in the film Somewhere in Time, where I remember her. But Seymour took good care of herself. She’s beautiful and toned, and gracious. With her crisp English accent, she began to talk about “Open Hearts.”

When I first heard it, I thought she meant someone had an open-heart surgery, and that a person was living with an open heart. What horror! 

You have to forgive me. Hosting Salamat Dok and encountering many sick patients gave me that impression — that someone was literally living with an “open heart.”

What Seymour actually meant was, “Live with an open heart,” something that she learned from her mother. The actress-philanthropist behind the Open Hearts Foundation says that our tendency when we are hurt is to shut ourselves from the world, but she encourages the opposite. When we are hurt, the more we have to give and open our hearts for love to come in. 

It is a very simple “advocacy” — just open your heart. The more hurt you are, the more you give. Open your heart to give and receive love.

The symbol of Open Hearts Foundation is a good reminder for us: Two hearts connected without any borders. Its advocacy is selfless giving even in the face of adversity.

We have all been hurt and have gone through trying times. To cope, my initial reaction is to harden my feelings, detach myself and not care. I realize that anger eats you up, feeding on your indifference, until all you think of is self-preservation.

I try not to be that kind of person. However, I’m not always successful. Masakit kaya masaktan! 

When we give, we make ourselves more vulnerable, but we also open ourselves to being loved. Eventually, the act of giving transcends us, until our concept of self diminishes.

Easier said than done! True.

However, I believe that there is genuine joy in completely opening yourself to others, even to those that we feel are unworthy of our love. 

Many times, we are not so lovable ourselves, but we are loved unconditionally.

Let the love flow. 

It’s Holy Week. We remember Christ’s selfless love for us.

Let us also reflect on our hurts and our crosses, and release the pain by opening our hearts in giving.

(E-mail me at [email protected] or follow me on Twitter @bernadette_ABS.)