Anyone who has ever loved and lost knows what it feels like to suffer from a broken heart. And when your heart is broken, you feel that the intense grief is a bottomless well of tears. However, suffering from a broken heart might be the best thing that ever happened to you if you just step back and look at the larger picture.

Benefits of a broken heart

• A broken heart strengthens your humility and softens the hard edges. You realize that you have a great capacity for deeper emotions and profound thoughts – feelings that you never knew you had.
  
• Continual exposure to anyone or anything reduces your awareness of its presence. Because of the absence, you are more receptive to simple pleasures and natural beauty.
  
• Grief inspires you to handle other people's hearts with greater care, making it more likely that you'll be able to create a more compassionate intimacy in the future.
  
• You now understand that you don’t have to work so hard to be interesting; rather you need to be interested in the other person.
  
• While your first thought might be, “What will happen to me?” Your next thought is learning how to adapt by tapping into your inner strength.
  
• You have come to understand that love is not unconditional. Love has its conditions. The next time around you will be better equipped to choose which conditions are acceptable to you.

In a new relationship you will now have an improved awareness, the ability to hone your perceptions, as well as boost both your emotional and analytical intelligence. Every intimate relationship you experience deepens your understanding of all other relationships including, colleagues, clients, friends and acquaintances – especially the one you have with yourself.

A little insurance to prevent a future heart break:

• A love relationship thrives on imagination and novelty. For a relationship to go the distance be prepared to see the other person with fresh eyes and really listen to what is being said and not said. Also, don’t assume the other person is clairvoyant and knows what you want. Express yourself.
  
• When disagreements arise, address rather than belittle concerns.
  
• The nature of perfection is always mutating. Don’t assume the role of the teacher; try being a student eager to learn and explore. Approach a love relationship with a beginner’s heart.

---

For more information on managing your stress and reclaiming your life read my book, Addicted to Stress: A Woman's 7 Step Program to Reclaim Joy and Spontaneity in Life. To listen to archived radio shows with guest experts visit Turn On Your Inner Light Radio Show