Wisdom part 1
I read this the other day, and I really want to explore it. "Wisdom is where the head and the heart meet." I think this is important. Because we always seem to have this idea of the head and the heart being at war with one another. Like... the heart wants one thing, and the head wants something else. And a lot of times this is how it feels. Expecially when it comes to people. Relationships. Romantic love. Because it seems like a lot of times we "fall" for people that are no good for us. But I think that right there is the problem. Love isn't about falling. Love is about rising. They say love is blind, but really that's lust. When you want something (or somebody) so badly that you ignore all of the warning signs. Love isn't blind. Love... sees clearly. I think we get into a lot of trouble when we THINK we're "following our hearts" but really we're following something else. Trying to get something instead of simply sharing what we've got. And I'm not talking about ignoring our hearts either. I'm not talking about hardening our hearts and keeping what we've got in and keeping everything else out. That's no way to live. That's not living at all. I'm saying there has to be a balance. There has to be that place where things line up. Where the war between head and heart ends. And, again, that's wisdom. Where we can love without expectations, but also avoid putting ourselves in a bad situation. (Which, I think, is what expectations are. I think expectations are nothing more than a setup for frustration and failure. Because what you expect is very rarely what you get. ESPECIALLY when you're dealing with people.) And, look, I'm not saying you shouldn't be vulnerable. In order to truly love you HAVE to be vulnerable. Because love is giving. Giving... yourself. Laying your life down for your friends. When love "seems" to fail is when we expect others to do the same for us. Instead of treating others how we want to be treated, it's almost like we expect others to treat us how we treat them. And here's the news: unless you're filled to overflowing with the love of God--and you know and believe it--it's impossible to truly love anybody. You can't give what you don't have. Or rather, what you don't KNOW that you have. That's why so many times it feels like loving people "isn't worth it." Because they don't receive it and return it in the way we want them to. In fact, in my experience, when you love someone they look at you suspiciously and try to figure out what your agenda is. Even though love doesn't have an agenda. Love IS the agenda. So what am I saying? It's not wise to love people? Absolutely not! I'm saying it's not wise to expect anything from anybody. I'm saying, if wisdom is where the head and the heart meet then we can love BETTER. We can love SMARTER. We can protect ourselves from getting hurt by not expecting others to respond in a certain way. "Use your head," right? But at the same time, "follow your heart." People don't receive love in the same way. What "works" with someone might not "work" with someone else. So we have to be sensitive. We have to be flexible. And above all, we have to be wise.