Use It Or Lose It

I sit there thinking about how easily we can lose our health …our eye sight, our hearing, our limbs…even organs. Some we come with two of like our eyes, our ears, our arms, hands, legs, feet…even our lungs and kidneys and some with only one. I have always heard that we were given two ears and two eyes and only one mouth meaning that we should watch and listen twice as much as we talk.

I have heard the phrase “use it or lose it”  many times referencing  our muscles and I am finding that true right now as I struggle to keep moving my legs and not lose the muscles from having to lay here on my back so much. It does not take long to lose our muscles if we do not use them like we should.

I think use it or lose it also applies to other things too such as our minds. So much brainless stuff on the television and in the movie industry now. I mean seriously, I wonder if people are doing studies on what some of the horrible reality shows are doing to our brains. I just refuse to watch because I find them insulting.

But, I also find that use it or lose it applies to love and compassion…the emotional part of the heart. We all come with the ability to love and care about others and yet today I see so many that have lost that feeling of love and feel nothing but anger and bitterness.  And as far as caring for others, there is no compassion or empathy for those suffering.

So, I have to wonder if this is a case of use it or lose it. If we stop caring about others do we lose the ability to care?  If we stop being compassionate about others, do we lose the ability to be compassionate?  It is a case of use it or lose it.

I notice people who are constantly helping those in need…working in soup kitchens, gathering clothes or food to donate, doing things to help those who are in such dire need and it seems the more they do, the more they want to do. And I see some who live in such a black hole of anger and hate and lack of compassion for others that you have to wonder what brought them to that point.

I have always loved doing for others and my sons are the same way. And yes, we have gotten burned and used at times but we never let it stop us. I believe what we give out comes back ten fold. And I believe that includes love but even when you offer love and compassion to someone and they do not return it, it is still a wonderful feeling knowing that you gave of yourself.

I think loving, compassion, care, empathy are all choices we make just as lack of love, anger, hate, lack of compassion are all choices. And sometimes the choice is easier depending on how much we use that part of us. The more we use the good parts inside us, the more they grow within us.  And the more we use the bad parts within us, the easier it is for them to grow and fester. And it is all choice.

So, when it comes to love, compassion, kindness and care….use them or lose them. And if you have hit the black hole of anger, bitterness, lack of compassion or care…you can counteract that by starting to use them to bring them back just like muscles.