“Learn to live, love…” Just now I heard someone quote this phrase, which he said came from the book The Shack. Does anyone know for sure? Is that book truly the source?
The phrase was so intriguing, I did a Google search to see if I could identify the source. I found many sites using this quote, each person taking a different, yet similar spin. I became lost in those four words momentarily…
I drifted away to all the events that occurred the past four days. Sometimes “Learn to live, love” is a big bill to fill. Other times, it is easy and effortless.
I reflected back over my recent days and nights in Chicago. On one hand, there is the ever present trepidation and fear one can so easily succumb to, witnessing the cold, angry encounters of people too rushed, too busy to care.
On the other hand, the meetings with a couple groups of attractive, professional, caring young women made it so easy to live life fully and love everything about them.
Then there was the call that came at 11:30 pm, telling of the passing of a close relative. The ensuing grief and pain momentarily frosted over the notion of living and loving.
Two people poured their hearts out over seemingly intolerable work situations, one with unethical business practices, another with a tyrant supervisor. One might ask, “What’s there to love about that?”
On the way home, I finished up the 5 CD series Eat for Health and listened to 2 CDs from Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D. What care and discipline it takes to love oneself enough to do whatever is necessary to unlearn old habits in order to free up endless days to live and love.
As I return to the present moment, I ask myself, what was that quote I just read by Dale Carnegie?
“The person who gets the farthest is generally the one
who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing
boat never gets far from shore.”
Nothing in life is the sure thing, and yet everything is. Life is sure to deliver the glorious, happy moments, just as readily as providing the contrast – the opportunities to stretch and grow.
To do and to dare exposes human vulnerability, yet without it, where is the zest for living? The loss of life teaches an appreciation for life. The inhumane boss pushes the recipient out of the nest – perhaps into the best experience of a lifetime – hidden from view, just around the corner.
Hmmm…could it be that all life experiences are to be embraced, lived and loved?
