A friend recently asked “Why would you want to hang around with downer people with recently broken hearts?” I answered:

Why hang around?
Because you can talk about it with me.
Because I’m a nice guy.
Because sometimes it’s just fun to have fun,
to take ourselves out of the moments
of wallowing in self-pity,
to recognize we are NOT
who some others might think we are.

We are not controlled
by what others think
of us,
or want to do with
or to
or about
or without us.

We control our own destiny,
and when we step out
of the wallow
and the muck
and take control
of who we are,
then we shine
and illuminate
and wow those around us.

And the heart discovers
it’s merely bruised,
not broken,
and that it,
like a good, dry martini,
must be shaken
before it is again stirred.