Life is strange. It gives many pleasures and it gives many pains. I wonder if you believe in fate, but some of us get a bigger share of pain than pleasure. I am not speaking of pains such as hunger, shelter etc., but pains of the heart. Why is heart so important for us? Because it is the center of love. Love motivates us and gives us direction in life. Love is the fuel that runs our mind. Love gives us the strength to fight many battles, and love inspires us to great achievements.



Love is of two types. One, love for god, mankind etc, and other, romantic love. Let us first talk of love in general. Let me give you an example. That is not of romantic love, but of the first kind. I know of a Christian lady, who runs an orphanage. She has about 50 children in her care. She is continuously working to take care of the children. She gives them names, washes them, changes their nappies and calls the doctor when any child falls sick. For her, every child in the orphanage is her own. Whenever I speak to her, she talks about new admissions of orphans. As soon as the child arrives, it becomes her own. She has so much love in her heart, that she has no other objective left in her life. A lovely and a very loving person.

But this is not romantic love. Romantic love inspires one much more than any other love. When we talk of romantic love, our love is not for many, but only one. In romantic love, we surrender ourselves fully to our beloved. What if that person, our beloved meets death on the Valentine's Day? Imagine the pain. Imagine the effect one has on that day, every year? That is why I said that life at times is very painful for some of us. The loss of a beloved to death is extremely painful. It breaks the heart, especially if the death occurs on Valentine's Day. The day of lovers. The pain will be unimaginably heart breaking.

I have given an extreme example of pain associated with romantic love. It is true that what gives great pleasure may also give great pain. If you know of anyone who is undergoing such pain, please try your best to help the person recover. Life is painful many times. It is our attitude that makes it more or less painful. If we look around us, we will find so much more misery that we will forget our own pain for sometime and try to soothe others. By helping others, one finds cure for one's own pain.