It's one of my favorite phrases; I even have a necklace with the words on it. Live the life you love, love the life you live.
It sounds simple even, to fill your life with the people, job, places and things that you enjoy. Because why would you live a life that you didn't want? Looking into the saying though there is much more than the surface meaning. While it is important and should be a goal to pursue living the life you love, and seems more attainable,(being that you fill your life with positive things and people not negative habits and an unhealthy lifestyle), it's much harder to love the life you live. Contentment as it is, is a rare thing to have and a beautiful thing to practice. I have now been to two countries where I have met exceedingly strong people regardless of their circumstances, and their strength came from their faith and the peace and contentment that they had.
Living eighteen years in a materialistic, consumerist and pleasure seeking based country, contentment with what you have is not a commonly expressed popular idea. My faith, Christian friends and family instilled in me the encouragement of being happy with what you have, always being grateful for what God puts in your life. To practice that mindset is difficult though, as the media and world around us bombards us constantly with new technology, clothes, ideas, careers and skin deep thoughts that push us to want what we don't have. This more, more, more mentality fights with me at least, creating a inner battle with desiring things that I don't have, whether it's my image or money or what not, and that strays me away from loving what I have now.
The benefits of loving the life you live and living the life you love to the best of our ability are bountiful though. Striving to live a worthy life, whatever that means to you, and then being content and grateful for what and who you have in your life is an idea that carries a lot of depth and weight with it.
But once you begin to dissect your life and contemplate what your purpose is and how you can give in this world, this phrase may not seem too far off in the distance for you to adopt.
Contentment does truly come from God my dear daughter; from having gratitude for His unfailing love and the joy that can only be found with a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Even in struggles and hardship we can be content knowing that God is always there for us.
ReplyDeleteRomans 12:2 tells us not to conform to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds... I believe you are being led by the Spirit in your writings and I am being blessed by your thoughts and inspirations in your writing.
I love you baby girl!
Dad