Wild at Heart

I have been reading this book, Wild at Heart by John Eldredge. It is a book that is supposed to be about a man's soul, however, I have found that much of what he writes applies to me too. So, does that mean I am secretly a man trapped in a woman's body? No. A more simplistic and realistic response would be that many of the ideas he presents are universal. Things that transcend male/female boundaries as well as cultural boundaries and religious constructs. His writing is grounded in Christianity and where he sees the connection, back to Adam and Eve. I can see how he sees such a parallel, but I am sure that we can take almost any psychological perspective into the human mind and behavior and tie it back to almost any religious text. As a friend has told me time and again, we see what we want to see.

Okay, all this to share some passages that struck me. Things that I felt were quotable. In one passage he talks about "An Adventure to Live" and talks about jumping off a cliff into the water. The exhiliration that rushes over you. He says, "I want to live my whole life like that. I want to love with much more abandon and stop waiting for others to love me first." Then he goes on to say, "Life is not a problem to be solved, it is an adventure to be lived." Later he quotes author Gil Bailie:
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

Wow! That is how I want to live my life and posted this because I may need a reminder from time to time. It reminds me of one of my favorite lines from a movie, Adaptation written by Charlie Kaufman and starring in a double role Nicholas Cage: You are what you love, not what loves you. To love without expectation that you will be loved back is so difficult at times, but this is so true that you don't have to get it back to give it. We are defined by what we choose to give, not what we get. I think of how much we measure a person by what they get in return. How much money they make, attention they receive (famous people), things they own, etc. I am no different, but I want to be. To love and live without abandon, to come alive and not waiting until things are perfect or everything falls in place. Hmm, what a concept. How does that become an actionable reality?