Achy Breaky Heart

Deadly, Achy Breaky Heart By: Ellyn Cassey Chua

Among all the weaknesses of women, only one can shake their spirits — an “achy breaky” heart. When guys hurt them in any way, they rush to their friends, grab a pack of tissue papers, and cry their eyes out. However, after they had enough of their strong emotional breakdown episodes, they suddenly get a pulse of independency and the strong will to withstand any problems that might come their way. So, even if their worst weakness is having an achy breaky heart, they could still manage to use that weakness and convert it into a source of weird-yet-effective inspiration. That’s the power of the heart of a woman; that’s the magic of the heart of a Filipina! The heart of a Filipina, as shown previously, has a lot of potential to make them achieve revolutionary things. But, in order for that potential to be discovered and tapped, the heart must first be in good condition. To achieve such, the Filipinas need to take care of the physical states of their hearts. They need to put in mind the importance of a healthy lifestyle, which of course, includes a long list of to-do’s, from exercise, to proper diet, to even stress management. For instance, they should consider doing aerobic exercises instead of just shopping around the whole day, because shopping doesn’t really help in the burning of unwanted fat that could put the most important organ of the human body in danger — the heart. Women must not take their hearts for granted by thinking crazy thoughts such as “Men are more prone to heart attacks than women, right? So, why do I have to be so health conscious?” These thoughts are usually present in many women, since most believe in the misconception that only men suffer heart attacks and other heart complications, but little do they know that after the menopausal period, women are as vulnerable to heart diseases as men are. To be more exact, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of women’s deaths. According to Rafael Castillo, M.D. of The Philippine Daily Inquirer, nearly 50, 000 women die each year from cardiovascular diseases. To avoid unfortunate endings like this, women should engage in more physical activities, which of course, don’t include the love of their lives — shopping. Another good advice is that women should avoid, or better yet, stop smoking. According to PDI, 12% of adult women smoke and more and more young ladies are starting to smoke. If this number would continue to increase, what would happen to the hearts of women — the Filipinas? Just what would happen to the potentials of girl power?

Everything might become permanently disrupted; isn’t that a pity? It’s a pity because the Filipina heart can do so much things! It’s not only capable of achieving revolutionary things, but is also skilled at simply giving out pure unconditional love. Filipina women are known for their undying love to almost anything — dogs, men, and even the nation. The Philippines will be as dull as charcoal if it weren’t for the specialty of the Filipinas in making everything cheerful and lively. Take Melchora Aquino for example; her courage and motherly love for her countrymen totally changed the pace of the Filipinos’ fight for independence. She gave medical attention to soldiers and even sent prayers for them. Consequently, the “mother of the Katipunan” made the Philippine independence a very hard-earned triumph. You go girl! As seen above, the capabilities of the Filipina heart are countless. It surpasses time and space when it comes to ability and aspirations. However, all of these would be nothing if health would be disregarded. The Filipina heart can take achy breaky emotions, but it can never overcome the real and deadly achy breaky feelings caused by physical pain due to cardiovascular complications and the like. Likewise, women can still stand up from emotionally achy breaky hearts by just eating up a whole gallon of ice cream or serving themselves with good romantic-comedies, but they could never ever stand up from the real case of the deadly achy breaky heart by doing the same thing; it might even worsen their condition by getting too much cholesterol from ice creams — a risk factor of cardiovascular diseases. Summing everything up, women, especially the unconscious Filipino women, must be more concerned with their health than just their clothes, hair and make-up. It’s okay to strive for beauty outside, but wouldn’t it be better if that would be complimented by beauty inside — by a healthy and not aching nor breaking heart? Plus, it’s really a shame if the hearts of the Filipino women couldn’t show the world what they’ve got, because what lies there is, I believe, a distant white colossal star that incinerates when abandoned but glitters magnificently when sheltered. So, long live the Filipina heart! Mabuhay ka, pusong pinay!