Heart Evangelista
Heart Evangelista used to overplan her life and map out specific goals on a timeline. “I was like OK, ‘When I reach this age, I’m going to do this and that. When I’m at this age, I have to have this and that,” she said.
That was precisely how she approached her marriage with Sorsogon Gov. Chiz Escudero and the prospect of starting their own family. But sometimes, life throws you a curveball and things don’t unfold the way you envisioned it.
“I really planned my marriage. I remember that, in our second month, I got pregnant and I had twins. I lost the first baby, then the second baby. I was so, so depressed and so, so sad,” the actress said in Kotex Luxe’s “Love Yourself Live: How Self-Love Can Save You” virtual discussion, where she looked back at her miscarriage in 2018.
Though devastated, Heart didn’t dare question God how such a thing could happen to her. “I didn’t even doubt … I had nothing bad to say. I had no questions whatsoever. Sometimes, you just have to trust that it’s for a reason,” she said.
“Even if you feel like it’s for a bad reason, or find yourself asking, ‘Am I a bad person?,’ I always think that it’s for a good reason,” added the 35-year-old GMA 7 star.
Later on, doctors told her that she had suffered a type of miscarriage called vanishing twin syndrome, and that losing one of the babies could actually cause complications or pose risk to the other if the latter were to survive.
Acceptance
“Perhaps the situation saved my baby from experiencing physical pain or really bad things,” she surmised. “So after that, I said, ‘OK, I’m not going to question this. I will accept it … maybe with a sad heart, but I will be hopeful.”
It was in acceptance she found peace. And this is how Heart chose to deal with her personal struggles from then on. “You just have to accept the things you can’t change, things that are really frustrating. You just have to go with the flow,” Heart pointed out. “There are many problems, and sometimes, you feel like they’re never-ending. But this, too, shall pass … Again, you just have to accept that it is what it is.”
“When you dwell too much on something you’re not really supposed to dwell on, you’re going to miss your next flight to your next destination,” she added. “There are other things you could do to make you happy. You can take another route, right?”
Virtual event
Joining Heart in the virtual event were television host and radio jockey Joyce Pring, events host Janeena Chan, fitness trainer Jo Villablanca, wellness expert Mawi Fojas de Ocampo and digital content creator Janina Vela. Among other topics they discussed were the importance of self-love, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Heart, the simple act of taking a breather can do wonders for one’s well-being. After all, one can’t pour from an empty cup.
“We all have problems. We all have our crosses to carry. We have people to take care of—family, friends, everybody who relies on you. But if you can just pause and take time for yourself, you will be surprised about how many beautiful things you could do for other people when you love yourself,” she said. “It really makes a huge difference.” INQ