In the book Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller states, "Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It is as if they are showing you the way."
Love comes naturally, but in order to learn how to love the correct things, we need a little help along the way. You see, sometimes we learn to love the wrong things, like monotony or making ourselves feel small. Sometimes we get stuck thinking love is limited and we only have the capacity to love a few things.
I am fortunate enough to say my best friends have shown me that love is big. They have inspired me to open my mind to the vast capacities of love, and new capabilities that it creates. For that, I can't thank them enough.
So to my best friends -- all I can do is say thank you, and promise to help show others how to love.
Thank you for teaching me how to love the present.
It isn't always easy to recognize the things that are exciting when day to day things are similar. It can be an awful trap to fall into the mentality of consistently looking to the future for bigger and better things. By doing that, I forget the fact that there are big things happening in my life right now that I need to recognize. Thank you for helping me be excited about the things happening present, and showing me how to love each day.
Thank you for teaching me how to love my past.
Your past experiences sound different when you tell someone else about them. Your past always seems boring when it is just bottled in your head. Thank you for asking about my past, pointing out the interesting things I've been through, and loving the memories I share.
Thank you for teaching me how to love routine.
When your best friends are your roommates, each day is fun. Waking up and going to sleep at night isn't simple monotony when the silly routines we have are fun. Thank you for showing me that going to class each day can be exciting if I learn to fill each day with the things I love.
Thank you for teaching me how to love change.
Growing up is scary if you have to do it on your own. Thank you for showing me that although I am growing and changing and so many things in life change due to time-- relationships don't have to.
Thank you for teaching me how to love adventure.
What better way to spend time with best friends than exploring? It is because of you guys that I am able to easily step out of my comfort zone, knowing that no adventure could go wrong when I have friends by my side. Thank you for showing me how fun it is to love seeking new places and experiences.
Thank you for teaching me how to love myself.
Loving others is impossible without the firm knowledge that you are loved yourself. Thank you for encouraging me and acknowledging my strengths. Thank you for telling me I'm beautiful inside and out, and showing me that I am worthy of love. Thank you for your words of affirmation and constant support-- it is because of this encouragement that I am learning how to fill myself with love to pour out to others.
Thank you for teaching me what love truly is, and showing me how to love others.
Most importantly, you have shown me that true love is unconditional. True love embraces the good and bad parts of day-to-day life. True love realizes that even in the hard things there is still good because through those things you grow.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
