The Road
Love is not an easy road. Maybe that's why the world has so many problems. But I believe it will always find a way.
Any time a man in Sri Lanka defends children that are unfairly put in the army; any time a woman goes to Timor to help people almost for free; anytime you volunteer at a hospital; anytime you give a kiss to your own child; anytime you forgive someone, love is finding its way.
I believe that a good life is based upon 50% forgiving and 50% giving. Of course, I also believe that we should never forget our own rights, which means that we should never shut up when someone is mean to us.
If there is somebody, or some group, we really dont like, that we really prove to ourselves over time that it is imposible to have any kind of reasonable relationship with, we should go away. I don't believe that our mission in the world is to like everybody. I believe that our mission is to achieve personal peace. Only when we have some kind of peace can we give something to someone. And sometimes, it is better being alone.
Peace doesn´t arrive at the moment we go away, but when after we have left we sit down and realize that we can forgive and let it go.
Is this easy? No, not to me. It can be unbelievably hard to forgive. I spent my life full of pain, full of bad memories, but trying to be a nice person. What I didn't realize was that it is always hard to be nice if we don't forgive the past or people that hurt us. Even if inside I had good feelings, people always saw me as aggressive.
So, now, this is what I try: never to shut up when somebody hurts me, but I try afterwards, inside my heart, to forgive, to put myself in that person's shoes to understand why she/ he/ they did it. Sometimes I realize it is impossible to go on with that person, team, or group and I go away. Sometimes I realize that it is worth it to wait, to see where the road leads.
I am not saying that I am always successful, not at all, even because I have a bad temper, but, at least, I try.
So, my sentence is: never go away or give up after the first rock on the road; but dont stay when you realize that your current path is not anymore the 'right way' for you.
But, how do we know when we should stay or go?
That brings us back to the question of healthy love. If you realize that you can not flourish next to your love, group or team, maybe it's time to start looking for a healthier path.
Life and love find success only through persistent attempts. We need to be willing to buy the lottery ticket, but we also need to stay rational enough to know that not every ticket is a winner.
And if you make a mistake, forgive yourself too. Nobody is perfect...