Thursday, August 20, 2009

Pray.

From the book "Eat Pray Love". Groceries (aka Liz, the author) is talking to Richard from Texas about her past relationship and letting it go while moving on to bigger and better things... or more specifically, moving on to her relationship with herself. Could be my favorite quote from a book, ever.

“Big deal. So you fell in love with someone. Don’t you see what happened? This guy touched a place in your heart deeper than you thought you were capable of reaching, I mean you got zapped, kiddo. But that love you felt, that’s just the beginning. You just got a taste of love. That’s just limited little rinky-dink mortal love. Wait till you see how much more deeply you can love than that. Heck, Groceries—you have the capacity to someday love the whole world. It’s your destiny. Don’t laugh.”

“I’m not laughing.” I was actually crying. “And please don’t laugh at me now, but I think the reason its so hard for me to get over this guy is because I seriously believed David was my soul mate.”

“He probably was. Your problem is you don’t understand what that word means. People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that’s holding you back, the person who brings you to your attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probable the most important person you will ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. And thank God for it. Your problem is, you just can’t let this one go. It’s over, Groceries. David’s purpose was to shake you up, drive you out of that marriage that you needed to leave, tear apart your ego a bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light could get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you had to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master and beat it. That was his job, and he did great, but now it’s over…”

“But I wish me and David could---“

He cuts me off. “See, now that’s your problem. You’re wishin’ too much, baby. You gotta stop wearing your wish bone where your backbone outta be.”

This gives me the first laugh of the day.

Then I ask Richard, “So how long will it be before all this grieving passes?”

“You want an exact date?”

“Yes”

“Somethin’ you can circle on a calendar?”

“Yes.”

“Lemme tell you something, Groceries—you got some serious control issues.”

By: Elizabeth Gilbert. Page 150.

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