I saw a LOVE>FEAR bumper sticker on a woman’s car one day when I was walking to work. There was something about this sticker that struck me right - so I got online and ordered two, one for me and one for a friend who needs some positive thoughts these days. It’s not like me to buy bumper stickers. Rather I collect ones people give me and keep them in my office so I can mull over those simple smug thoughts to myself. But this one just made me feel like I would be putting some good out in to the world - eventhough it's sitting on my desk.
In picking it apart, I realized I wanted to compartmentalize love and fear as opposites. It is not a Battle Royal of Love versus Fear. If it was, Fear of course probably would believe it can kick Love's arse; and Love would participate believing all would be right in the end. And neither one would be wrong because in those intrinsic forms, they would both need each other. I guess then, it's what side you choose to sit on. Love is not greater than fear but rather the much needed counterpart to "life" that provides perspective that might ease the whole experience.
It's from that vein of thinking that I choose love these days (as cheesy as it sounds). If I could package the concept, I believe it would be the new skinny, fountain-of-youth, lottery-winning elixir of the moment (and I wouldn't need this blog anymore to make all my money - wink). I think it would help all of us to to find peace in where we are at in our life.
The ironic thing is, fear has ruled my life. I've been stifled by how much I've come to understand that in the past year. I can’t even begin to explain how mousy it's made me (in an unmousy, more snotty sort of way). Perspective is everything. There are so many times when I'm caught in the moment knowingly wishing I could just let the fear subside. It’s silly but then again I've been bred to worry about the inevitable or make worry of what’s to come, even when it doesn't. Anticipation is king in my life and anything I can do to analyze the situation, I will. And when it does come, I find a way to muddle through.
In the end, doesn’t it always work out? Sure, it might not work out as planned or how you achingly wanted it to work out but in some strange way, it all makes sense somewhere down the line (maybe that’s the optimist in me). Life moves on, we age and forget pieces of our folly in youth, we get jobs and more responsibilities, we grow more friends and family, and we loose some too. And then we get to the end of the ride and hopefully it has been exhilarating - not without both sides of the coin but with both sides of the coin balancing out (and hopefully landing on heads more than tails).