"It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all."
I don't know who said that. Or why.
But I hate them.
I will even own up to having used that phrase myself, but I still hate it. Because I want it to be true, but I don't want the risk that goes with it.
Because sometimes, there are good things in my life, good people, good work being done...good, but if I would risk a little... it could be really great. Or... the pessimist in me realizes... it could be terrible. And I could lose what's good.
So my question is... is it worth giving up something really good...
... for the chance at something incredible?
Here's what I'm battling... God has an amazing, better-way for us to do life. I think He has a more-abundant life for us if we will follow Him and the things that He's calling us to do. But what if... the risk I'm thinking about taking isn't God... and it's just what I want?
Plus. Straight-up, I'm just scared.
Scared to give up what's familiar.
For something that is unknown territory. And has the potential to be fantastic. And also the potential to fail.
So is it?
Is it better to love and maybe lose?
Or never take the risk?
There is a higher level of whatever it is we're involved with if we choose to allow ourselves to commit to it fully. You can exist in a job, a relationship, a routine...and you can crave something that fits you even better. If you stay safe, you miss the chance to really understand how you use your gifts, your heart, and find a purpose that might not have been fulfilled with "safe."
ReplyDeleteEven if the time spent functioning at this higher more truthful and passionate level is limited, the chance to have all cylinders firing is worth the risk...because we're meant to function at that higher level. We were built for it...that's why the questions even come...what might it be...what could be there that I'm missing. Those harken back to the "God Shaped Hole" concept. You're chasing something you might not even know you're missing...you're curious...because something you were built for isn't there.
It's right to function at our best...and while that means jumping higher can mean falling harder...the only way you really experience the most joy...is to risk the pain.
The best part of it...the joy/pain ratio isn't 1:1. Sometimes...dare I say most times...you hit the high frequency joy...and it sustains.
Jump higher.
"I hold it true what'er befall,
ReplyDeleteI feel it when I sorrow most,
Tis better to have loved and lost,
Than never to have loved at all."
-Alfred Lord Tennyson "In Memorium"
Although it is quite long, this is one of the most beautiful and heart wrenching poems I have ever read. Tennyson wrote it over the course of the 3 years following the death of his best friend, a man he considered to be "closer than a brother."
A life with no risks is a terrifyingly mediocre sort of existence.
ReplyDeleteWithin the realm of love, I like the way the Fruit Bats put it: "When you love somebody but bite your tongue all you get is a mouthful of blood."