The sun sets on another day…
I think if I want to keep being funny I should say the letter to end all letters would be the letter Z, but that would be too much like “Miss Congeniality” and I just can’t do it.
As I reviewed a few dozen older things and was throwing away the past I came across a book of O’Henry stories and thought again about “The Gift of the Magi”. I wrote about it before a few years ago (scary huh) here. I wrote a fairly short post that day, but as I linked the things I was throwing away and the story I realized the greatest gift you can give anyone is trust. Well, it makes sense. Many people are so lost looking for trust that they trust the wrong people, or miss it completely. In the old days it would be something with snake oil, but in today’s world it is more likely to be something about a loan or a free vacation on your cell phone, or a person who says they care about you but either does wholeheartedly, or barely understands how to spell the word.
Over 40% of men and almost 50% of women consider trust the most important thing in their life, and with good reason, after all, when you are in a relationship, isn’t it about trusting the other person to protect you and your heart?
I wrote a story about trust and protecting a person’s heart that I will not post here, mostly because I was very cynical that Halloween, but suffice it to say that we need to trust in a relationship for the relationship to have hope. It is not just trust, both people need to go over the top to prove that they are trustworthy.
I was in a relationship once where I got the most wonderful cards, and yes, I gave some as well. The stuff in those cards were humble and amazing, and made me feel like I was always doing too much, but I wanted to do more. After that relationship was over I read through those cards and found there were instant items that should have made me worry. Keywords like “I don’t deserve” and “How could I be so lucky” translated to “I cannot be trusted” and “I am considering my options” when I looked them over again. That being said, in college I got the letter to end all letters and it was what trust should be to us all. It simply told me that I could trust any time and all the time. That it was so perfect that life had brought us together, and we were so perfect together because we spoke, we listened, we were honest, and she knew there was no limit to what I would do for her, and she said to me simply, “anything you want, desire, need, or fathom I will do, because you are worth it.” Of course she broke my heart a short time later because she was reminded of someone else and it was all too fast, but what she said was pointed and true and I have considered it almost every day since that day.
Where is your line?
Are you willing to do anything for someone “because they are worth it” or do you determine limits because “that is not me” or “I can’t” or “they are not worth it”. Is the someone you are with willing to “do anything for you?” or do they shy away from conversations that they do not want to consider, avoid things they don’t want to do, and find excuses.
There are people out there that will go the extreme distance, and people that will go to their line, and leave you hanging. (Hopefully not from a clothesline) I hope you are the former, I hope you have found the former. I hope that you find life to be a passionate challenge each and every moment of each and every day, or at least most of them.
So as the sun sets on another day, consider life as a reality of extremes. Don’t be ma and pa sitting around watching TV as life passes by, but Mr. and Mrs. Smith who fight in a warehouse store to be together, and let nothing get in their way. As you go through find a perfect letter to leave people who are important to you, and let them know how you feel each day. There can be nothing better in life, and how happy would you be if it were given to you? Don’t draw lines, reach for the moon, or the stars, and find your way to a limitless life, and make it so, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, find passion, and live it every day…