Parts of "Living, Loving, and Learning" (A re-post from Sept. 20, 2010)

Since I am reviving this, I plan to repost some of my old posts from my old blogs (like I haven't already). I'll only do this when I have nothing to say. I have long planned to rewrite/type my entries from my old blog since I only have printed copies. It's wise to post it in the world wide web for storage. It won't be lost that way.

Parts of "Living, Loving, and Learning"

I read this book every year (sometimes more than once) since 1997 and it touches me everytime. I am sharing you parts of the book in the hope it will enrich your life like it did mine.

LIVING, LOVING, AND LEARNING  by Leo Buscaglia (also author of LOVE and PERSONHOOD)

•  What are you holding on to? Death isn't a spooky thing. Death teaches us the value of time. We realize how precious it is. We realize we don't have forever! Death teaches us to look and to see...and that the people we love aren't going to be the same all the time. We don't look at each other anymore! We're so busy doing things that we don't stop to look at each other. You won't be here forever. You know you won't be the same in the morning. How many of you have children old enough to get married, and you realize that when they leave you never had time to see them grow up or you were so busy doing things for them that you never took the time to look at them!

• There's an insurance against everything, you know? But no one has made an insurance that you won't be sad. No one has the insurance that you won't die. It's the most inevitable thing, it will happen to everyone and to all of us. It teaches us what love is --- it's open arms. It's freedom. Keep your arms open and people will come and go---as they will anyway. You have no control! "I refuse to allow you to die"---what are you holding on to? Experience life; agonize, scream, cry. And then let it go.

• Then what is essential, I think, is to live life in wonder. All this magic that's around us, but we let it go by! In Asia they say life is a great river, and it will flow, no matter what you do or don't do. We can decide to flow with the river, and love in peace and joy and love, or we can decide to battle it, and live in agony and despair. But the river doesn't care. Life doesn't care. In either case, all of our streams run into the same sea. It's up to you.

• If we don't expect, we have all things, says Buddha. Love because you will to love. Give because you will to give. Flowers bloom because they must, not because people are fawning over them! You live and love because you will. Because you must.               

• I had a girl come into my office this week who sat there for almost an hour talking about "me, me, me". This is a quote: "I'm not sure what I want from life." Finally this good old nondirective counselor shouted out, "What the hell are you giving to Life!?" Every day you take from the ground, you take from the air, you take from the beauty---what are you giving back?" We never think about what we're putting back, do we?

• Everybody teaches all of the time, and, therefore, it is imperative that we all know as teachers what is essential because only when we know collectively what is essential, can we know what is possible.