Some years ago a friend gave me a copy of “Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion.” Campbell’s works such as The Hero With a Thousand Faces and The Power of Myth among other have influenced thought. I will be using quotes from Reflections on the Art of Living as the basis for a series of upcoming posts.
“The warrior’s approach is to say ‘yes’ to life: ‘yea’ to it all.” p. 17
Note: We have no choice where life is concerned; each of us will get our share of the good and bad. It doesn’t always come out even. Some will get a heaping scoop of good and others a heaping scoop of bad, and most will fall between the two extremes. Life isn’t fair, but it’s the only life we have. When we give our resounding,”YES” to life we dare to live life with courage and hope. We dare to say yes to every experience we encounter. Each experience makes us into the person we find ourselves to be today. The experiences we will encounter will continue to shape us. How it shapes us is up to us and the attitude we take toward each experience.
Victor Frankl says in Man’s Search for Meaning, speaks of love being the only way in which we can fully grasp and understand another human being . He says, “Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being. Unless he loves him by his love, he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized, but yet ought to be actualized, furthermore by his life, a living person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be, and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true. P. 116
NOTE: Have you had a person in your life who believed in you and what you might become even when no one else saw your possibilities? I was fortunate to have a person like that in my life. My wife was, as the song lyrics say, “the wind beneath my wings.” When we offer this gift to another, we open up a world they may never thought possible. Will you be the wind beneath someone’s wings today?
