Definitions Make a Difference

Growing up with heart problems, I have always had a special interest in the human heart. The heart is an organ that never stops working as it circulates blood throughout the body. When you think about the heart in a physical way, you will learn some amazing things. But there is another way to think about the heart. You can think about the heart in a spiritual way and learn incredible things.

I often think about how Elder David A. Bednar has defined the heart; the heart is the sum total of our thoughts, desires, feelings, and motivations. It's who we are and who we are becoming.

This definition of the heart means a lot to me. This is because a lot of what I feel,what motivates me, who I am and who I am becoming is a result of my heart. Looking at the heart with Elder Bednar's definition in mind helps me to see my heart problems as a blessing because my heart problems have taught me many lessons that I would otherwise not have learned.

One of the greatest helps I have to overcome the challenges associated with heart problems is the value positive perspectives bring to my life. I wish and hope that helpful knowledge such as Elder Bednar's definition of the heart will fill my mind and enable me to learn from the difficult situations that arise in my life.

The Power of Thought

The arrhythmias began the final day of my junior year in high school. Without any provocation, my heart would go from a normal 60 beats per minute (bpm) to an astounding 300 bpm. As soon as my heart rate jumped so high, my heart stayed at the fast rate. As you can imagine, at 300 bpm my energy level would quickly decrease. To bring my heart rate back to normal, I would go to the hospital where they would shock my heart and bring my rate back to normal.

That day, the last day of school my junior year, was just the beginning of the struggles I would have with arrhythmias. Over the next few years I would go in and out of arrhythmias, always ending in a hospital trip to get shocked. More than anything, getting shocked was inconvenient. Every time I went to the hospital, I knew that I would be there for at least five hours. I came to dread arrhythmias because I didn’t want to take time out of my schedule to go to the hospital.

This dread lead to hyper observance. I would monitor my rate rate several times every hour to make sure that my heart rate was where it should be. But as the weeks went on I began to go into more and more arrhythmias. Eventually, it became clear that the increased frequency of arrhythmias was my fault! My hyper observance was inadvertently causing me to go into arrhythmias. My preoccupation of arrhythmias stressed me to the point of arrhythmias.

With practice, I learned how to control my thoughts so that I my attention was not focused on my heart rate. The frequency of my arrhythmias drastically decreased and my quality of life increased, all because I changed the focus of my thoughts.