"To me, it is a given that life is a series of trip wires and train wrecks, broken bones and raw deals. It is also a given that life is impossibly beautiful and full of wonder. It offers us the journey of a lifetime, every single day. We meet others with luminous hearts and an endless capacity to grow and change. We meet small- minded people who are stuck in limitation and darkness. It is a mixed bag, this thing called life. We are immersed in a sea of contrast. Joy, sorrow, birth, death, victory, defeat, and everything in between.
This is earth school. This is the place where we incarnated and promised to live our best lives, giving our gifts and making the best of it, despite our obvious shortcomings.
As I enter my fifth decade on this planet, I see the value in living with an attitude of gratitude. I see how much happier I am when I focus on the wonder of what I have, instead of whatever it is that I lack. Being afraid accomplishes nothing. Nothing good comes from those moments I’m paralyzed by fear. Fear can be a great catalyst, but it cannot be the house in which we live. It cannot.
We must swallow our fear, and instead, give birth to love.
“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.” ~ John Lennon
Love is what matters. Love is what breaks us and what builds us up. Love is the answer to every riddle. Love is the missing piece that we only realize much later, is never missing. Love, you see, is something we carry inside us, from our cribs to our deathbeds. It is our bones and teeth. It is our marrow. It is what will transform our shadows into figures of light.
Love is the grease that turns the wheel of life."
Remember, it’s always better to be at the bottom of the ladder you want to climb than the top of the one you don’t. Be productive and patient. And realize that patience is not about waiting, but the ability to keep a good attitude while working hard for what you believe in. This is your life, and it is made up entirely of your choices.
Even if you have no idea where you’re going to land, be brave enough to step up to the edge of the unknown, and listen to your heart.
Today, let someone love you just the way you are – as flawed as you might be, as unattractive as you sometimes feel, and as incomplete as you think you are. Yes, let someone love you despite all of this, and let that someone be YOU."
