No one is responsible for the condition of your heart but you. Whatever conditions there are in your life, whatever conditions you have been subject to, what you do with your heart is your choice. You are the one who opens or closes it. No one else has that privilege.

What other people do is their choice. They make choices that, when all is said and done, have nothing to do with you. You are not the crux of other's decisions, though often you think so. But why let your heart be wounded simply because others live their lives as they see fit?

No one has ever done anything to you. They simply have made their choices. And now you make yours. Your heart is to do with as you like.

You have a resilient heart. It is not at everyone's disposal. It is at yours. Advise your heart as to its strength. Give it encouragement. Your heart is a noble thing. It comes from a high place. It need take no offense.

Let your heart be a blessing to all others and to yourself. Your heart is not riffraff. It does not blow in the breeze. Your heart needs no defense. Your heart is perfectly established within you.

Hearts beat. A heart beats regardless of circumstances. Your heart beats. Through thick and thin, it beats. Be like your heart that doesn't miss a beat.

Life comes to you in different colors. That's all that happens. You prefer some colors to others. You walk through them all. You are not permanently dyed by any one of them. When you finish with a particular shade, you come out of it with your heart just the same. The degree to which what is outside of you can affect your heart is up to you. Certainly, you have some say about it.

What is outside of you is not your strength. Nor is what is outside of you your weakness. You seem to know your weaknesses quite well but forget about your strengths.

Yet you are one who prevails through all colors of life.

You already know that. You have already been forged through the fire.

You have already risen to new heights. Do not fool yourself that you haven't. Be merciful unto yourself.

A scratch is only skin-deep. Whatever thorns scratch you, they do not reach the innermost core of you, not even when you think so and weep.

You have shoulders that can shrug. Use them. Shrug off the little things that would infringe upon the beauty of your heart. All the things that happen are little next to your heart. Will you remember that? There is nothing that can compete with your heart.

Your heart does not really need healing. It is your perception that needs healing. But if you feel you must heal your heart, then heal it with love. Love from your own heart is the healer. There is no other. Let your heart care about what matters.

If you like, consider your heart a marching soldier. Soldiers march with their shoulders back and they stand straight and tall. They look not to right nor left. Passing sights do not detract them. Of course, if your heart is a soldier, it is a soldier of love. Your heart is a soldier in peace. It need not be brave. It only has to be a heart.

Throw your heart a few bouquets. Give it the accolades it deserves. Be proud of your heart that knows how to love no matter what befalls.