What breaks your heart?

I'm definitely someone who tries to avoid negative, painful things in my life. This means I rarely watch the news. Somehow it is so much easier to deal with in word form. I rarely watch sad movies or message movies. (Yes, this does mean that I have no chance in Oscar pools anymore.) And, I never read the books Oprah recommends. 

But lately I keep getting challenged to take a long hard look at what breaks my heart. 

The more I read and hear, the more I've begun to think that asking what causes my heart to ache doesn't necessarily have to be a painful question to answer or a question I'd rather to avoid. What if we were able to redeem the question? Perhaps the things that break our hearts are also the things that cause the greatest passion within us, the things that lead us to action.

My precious friend Tracy is heartbroken by the literacy problem among disadvantaged children in our county. She believes that literacy is one of the most important steps towards being successful in life, and it destroys her to think that there are children who don't get this chance. Now, she could have felt the pain that comes with knowing there are children like this in our nation and pushed it down because who really wants to dwell in thoughts about kids who can't read, live in poverty, and have very little hope of a successful future? Instead, she embraced this pain and decided to use it. Tracy has created a nonprofit organization which is actively involved in the fight to make sure all children, no matter their gender, race, or economic status, have the chance at a successful future through their ability to read. Now, one of Tracy's greatest pains has become one of her greatest joys. You can't look into the face of one of her Freedom Readers and not think that embracing this pain wasn't one of the best things Tracy ever did. 

So, what breaks your heart? And, what are you going to do with the passion it has awakened within you? Asking these questions will change your life, just like it has Tracy's and mine. But, I promise you it will be worth it.

For more information on Freedom Readers, visit: http://www.freedomreaders.org/