Give A Little, Lose A Little
Watching Beaches is almost always a mistake for me. Don’t get me wrong – it’s one of my favorite movies of all time, and I seem to be unable to change the channel when I stumble upon it. But without fail, it ends with me crying. Can’t help it. I have the same issue with Armageddon. Ok, that one may seem odd as a tear-jerker, but it’s the end (spoiler alert) – Liv Tyler saying goodbye to her daddy, Bruce Willis, for the last time? Leave me alone, I’m a Daddy’s girl.
Off topic as usual.
Beaches – there’s one song… “Glory of Love” that has always spoken to me. It’s originally by Benny Goodman, but I do love Bette Midler’s version.
I think one of the reasons I like this version so much is because the entire movie is about one of my favorite topics – Love – but not the romantic kind, the kind that blossoms out of a lifelong, profoundly deep friendship.
I talk about Love here a lot. Why? Because it’s something I’m pretty good at. Those who are closest to me will tell you that I love easily and unconditionally, and at times, undeservingly.
That’s the bad side.
I give love, even when the person I’m giving it to hasn’t earned it, and perhaps doesn’t deserve it. Maybe, just maybe they even have done things that *should* make me opposite-of-love them.
Except…
I don’t. I almost can’t.
Even people who have really wronged me, while I may not like them, even may distance myself from them, if I ever loved them, I never stop.
My question for you caught up on the interwebs here is this: Is that a bad thing?
Hear me out for una momenta por favor (my limited Spanish…I can also order beer and ask where the library is…)
Love is supposed to be giving…caring…compassionate. We are told in scripture that Love is patient and kind…bears all things…believes all things…endures all things and NEVER ends. It is the purest of emotions.
Have you ever held a newborn baby and just stared deep into its eyes? I believe those eyes hold the secrets to the universe – they just can’t tell us with words. But one of the things you will see in those eyes is pure, unadulterated love.
The thing about me and love is I believe in giving it – to whomever I can, as often as I can, as much as I can. (And yes, I’m keenly aware that the 13-year-old boy in each of us is now giggling…not THAT kind of love people…stay on topic with me here…)
I believe the more love you give, the more you have to give, the greater your capacity for giving. Do you open yourself up for hurt? Sure! But you also open yourself for uncompromising joy. For gifts beyond measure. And that makes any possible pain worth it.
I’m not saying it’s easy – by any means. I am still traumatized by love so often. One of the more scarring episodes was a few years ago, I was dating a guy who decided to break up with me via e-mail…because he was just classy like that. The pain was unbearable. But in the pain, do you know what happened? One of my dearest friends (who abhors emotion like nothing you’ve ever seen) held me as I cried (offered to go deal with him in a permanent way) and poured a different kind of love all over my hysterical sobbing self. Right there in the midst of pain caused by one kind of love was an outpouring of healing through another kind.
That, my friends is the story of, the glory of love.
It’s got the power to destroy and to heal. To break and to mend. To bring tears and smiles.
And trust me – the upside of it is ALWAYS better than the downside.
Is love easy? No.
Is love worth it? Yes.
Go out and love someone today!
