What is Love? Part 2

Come on skinny love just last the year

Pour a little salt we were never here

My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my

Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer

I tell my love to wreck it all

Cut out all the ropes and let me fall

My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my

Right in the moment this order's tall

I told you to be patient

I told you to be fine

I told you to be balanced

I told you to be kind

In the morning I'll be with you

But it will be a different "kind"

I'll be holding all the tickets

And you'll be owning all the fines

Come on skinny love what happened here

Suckle on the hope in lite brassiere

My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my

Sullen load is full; so slow on the split

I told you to be patient

I told you to be fine

I told you to be balanced

I told you to be kind

Now all your love is wasted?

Then who the hell was I?

Now I'm breaking at the britches

And at the end of all your lines

Who will love you?

Who will fight?

Who will fall far behind?

Bon Iver's "Skinny Love" has been going through my head all morning. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe this is what love is: being patient, kind, fine, balanced. Once we are these, we can find the things we want most.

Or rather, the things we want most find us...

What is Love?

"Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve a continuation of the species."
- W. Somerset

Now don't go thinking I'm a bitter harpy; I simply found this quote in the side margin of my psychology textbook and thought it was really funny.

You have to admit- you kind of laughed a little too.

I really want to meet this W. Somerset- he seems delightfully depressing.

Perfection

I've been thinking quite a bit about the idea of perfection. If there is one thing I've realized over the last few months, it's that I am not perfect. Not even close. But I'm strangely ok with that- I don't want to be. I love imperfections; they make us human. They are what make us unique and interesting. Now there are always things I am working on to make myself a better person. There are imperfections that need to be remedied. But overall, I'm grateful for the mistakes I make because they teach me humility, they teach me how to love, and they teach me how to serve. I'm grateful for my imperfections because they allow me to turn to my Savior in all things. I know that I am not perfect, but that through the Lord, I can be made perfect. My imperfections allow me to see all the blessings I have been given. After each trial, bump, or mistake there has been immeasurable joy. So I am not perfect. That's ok.

"Someone Like You"

A song I love:

I heard that you're settled down,

That you found a girl and you're married now,

I heard that your dreams came true,

Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you,

Old friend, why are you so shy?

Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light.

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited,

But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it,

I had hoped you'd see my face,

And that you'd be reminded that for me it isn't over.

Never mind, I'll find someone like you,

I wish nothing but the best for you, too.

Don't forget me, I beg,

I remember you said,

"Sometimes it lasts in love,

But sometimes if hurts instead,"

Sometimes it lasts in love,

But sometimes it hurts instead, yeah.

You know how the time flies,

Only yesterday was the time of our lives,

We were born and raised in a summer haze,

Bound by the surprise of our glory days.

Nothing compares,

No worries or cares,

Regrets and mistakes, they're memories made,

Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited,

But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it,

I had hoped you'd see my face,

And that you'd be reminded that for me it isn't over.

Never mind, I'll find someone like you,

I wish nothing but the best for you, too.

Don't forget me, I beg,

I remember you said,

"Sometimes it lasts in love,

But sometimes if hurts instead."

Sometimes it lasts in love,

But sometimes it hurts instead.

Decisions

"Most people fail at whatever they attempt because of an undecided heart. Should I? Should I not? Go forward? Go back? Success requires the emotional balance of a committed heart. When confronted with a challenge, the committed heart will search for a solution. The undecided heart searches for an escape. A committed heart does not wait for conditions to be exactly right. Why? Because conditions are never exactly right."

- Andy Andrews

Little Gem

My friend posted this little gem of a thought (I'm not sure where she got it from) and I loved it:

"We have a choice between three fundamental options. We can approach what happens that does not match our expectations with a negative attitude and treat it as a burden, or we can approach it with a positive attitude and affirm its beneficial features, or we can transcend both categories, reject them, and stop the ceaseless, complicated interplay between them... which integrates the negative truth of harsh reality with the positive truth of generous possibility. Transcendence acknowledges the presence of necessity and opportunity, frustration and dedication, inadequacy and abundance, disaster and opportunity, that are present in all change efforts. Leaders (I, personally) who transcend their circumstances do not accept the world as it is; rather, they work to transform it."

The Lessons We Learn

I've learned a lot of lessons in my life, specifically over the last five years. Being an adult has not been the easiest, but it definitely has been the most rewarding. I have realized that I want some things so badly that I focus on them and forget to see everything else around me. I obsess over one thing, hoping and praying that I get it, while other beautiful things pass me by because I was too stubborn to see them.

In the words of K'naan (yes, I'm about to quote a rapper): "Any man who knows a thing knows he knows not a damn, damn thing at all." This is my life. I've realized that I really don't know anything at all- the things I want are very different than the things I need. While that may seem a terrifying notion, it's ultimately very comforting. I can't rely on myself because I don't know anything. I can only rely on God because, in reality, He's the only one who knows what I need. The trick is training myself to quit staring at the things I want and realizing that there is so much better to be had.