re:
Quote:
MacGyver: " Hey guys, just thought this would be a good idea for people to read when they find themselves needing some words of advice.
Just post you "Words of Wisdom" regarding what ever you see fit.
Please try to stay on topic, i know it prolly wont but try. I think this could really help people cope."
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I don't know if my contributions to this thread are quite in line with the original question, but they might be worth
something to
someone who happens to run across them.
Most of what I rely on now, in regards to love, was learned a long time ago, when I was a very young girl -the basic stuff- the stuff that that I've used as the foundation of knowledge that I've only added to through experiences.
And it turned out to be pretty
good stuff.
There are a few quotes -words of wisdom- (Smile) from several people that have stuck with me through the years, -some from my father, a few from MJ, my grandmother on my mother's side- and a few random others I (miraculously) listened to.
At first, you may think they don't have a thing to do with your topic. Try to read with more than just your eyes open.
One of the things my father used to say was
"If a man don't work, a man don't eat". And, to this day, I still see the truth in that statement, as I look around and see the world starving, or on welfare. Of course, I know there's alot more to be said about all that, but to keep this as much on-topic as I am able, I won't take it any further.
It used to make me wonder, though, about what he meant when he made that comment, because, in seeming contradiction of it, he would take groceries to people he barely knew who weren't doing so well, and give money to people who
didn't hold a job. (Smile).
So I give my dad's statement it's due, and whenever I can find a few hours to spare -I give my time, my money, and my hard work to make a little bit of a difference for those who *can't* work, or just need a helping hand for now. It was because of my dad's statement that made me see the difference between *not working* and *can't work*.
Another thing he used to say was
" Never mistake kindness for weakness." -and since then, I have experienced circumstances of my own which have called up his voice saying those very words, and I have been thankful to be reminded of them, and the clearer, more compassionate, and empathetic understanding I now have regarding their true meaning.
My father was a simple, straightforward, and
very wise man.
MJ was also very wise and -out of all the people I have ever known- she was the kindest, gentlest, most sincere woman, I believe, that ever drew a breath.
She proved -everyday- with her gifts of friendship, words and acts of help and encouragement to others that *anyone* can make a difference in someone else's sad circumstances, and showed a seldom-restrained, uniquely-spirited kind of love that seemed, to me, to know no boundaries when in action, nor ever become exhausted.
MJ, weighing a hundred pounds soaking wet, nearly eighty years old, and peeling apples on her front porch, once said, "
If you can't give yourself, -then nothing else you have is good, either".
(I had come for a quick visit and had brought her a gift, but after hearing
that, I sat right down beside her and spent the whole afternoon helping her peel that whole damn bushel of knotty orchard apples.)
(Smile) MJ was a piece of work, made her own rules, and created her *own* kind of 'cool'.
These are examples of a couple of the people who showed me how to
view love,
be loved, and
give love.
They didn't spout quotes from daylight til dark, nor go around preaching to masses about how to live, -but they continually *showed* what they believed by
how they lived, and
how they reached out to connect with others.
And in my book, that's not a bad habit to have, at all.
I believe that love is one of the single most important things to us all, as human beings, because it acts in a similar way as a sculptor chiseling magnificent art out of a chunk of stone or marble: it finds who we are inside and causes us to emerge, -sometimes
painfully.
I can't imagine any pain I have ever been through because of love, that wasn't worth what I
became out of it.
(Smile)
I don't know what else I can add to this thread, because all the sophisticated quotes I have in memory have disappeared just now. At the moment, even Ghandi's softly-spoken words could not hold my attention; Goethe was a really wise man, but I can't remember a thing he ever said; and Emerson may as well have been illiterate.
All I can remember, right now, are the things I have been taught and
know is true: that love is *essential* (
we simply can't grow without it); it's unavoidable (
if you breathe, then you'll come in contact with it); and although it's always wonderful to be on the
recieving end of it, and we would most likely give our right arm to be showered with it everday in all the ways we've imagined or dreamed about -it's still just as absolutely *phenomenal* to be on the
giving end, because the truth is, -
that's where
most of us are going to be found
most of the time.
Take care.
-Rio
You've gotta laugh at life; if not, you'll die crying.
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