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!