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The first time I read this book dates back to 2012, when I was still in the United States, I borrowed it from the library but it was a busy time so I only finished about one-third of the book and returned it. However, it is so amazing and interesting that I could not forget it.
so this year, before the winter holiday, I purchased it online and can not wait to read it asa my holiday began.
I adore the way Elizabeth Gilbert told the story and described her feelings. It is pretty humorous I have to say, and it is not too much humor that you will get tired to soon, it is those witty humor that echo with your own feelings sometimes. And she loves making jokes on herself, which makes it even funnier. Sometimes I really like this kinda light-hearted story, expressing some deep thoughts with ordinary events that may happen in everyone's daily life, instead of telling the story in a serious tone.
We all need a little humor and fun in our life. We all need to learn how to laugh and make fun of ourselves,especially when you are at the botton of your life.
This kinda humor reminds me of the humor in sex and the city, the story of 4 single ladies in the NYC, Elizabeth is also from the NYC, I assume that is sorta New Yorker-humor maybe?
It is all about self-discovery, in my opinion.
And self-discovery includes various aspects of a person's life, relationship, family, job, children, dreams, happiness, sorrow and regrets. There are too many emotions and too many things in a person's life that sometimes it is too hard to see yourself clearly
WHAT DO YOU WANT?
sometimes it is not about your parents, not about your friends, not about your children or husband, it is just about YOU
I do not think it is selfish, cuz so many people make their decisions based on ordinary social pattern, conform themselves to different rules that restrict them
Some never have a serious thought about what they really want in their life.
It is easy and even comfortable of course, to live a life that is like everybody else's.
No difficult decisions to make, no hard choices to choose, no adventurous risks to take, and nothing to lose
but the safety you get from this kinda life also on the other hand, makes you lose some other possibilities in life
the possibility of going to another country and just have fun, learn a new language with no practical purpose at all, eat without considering your weight too much and just be lazy everyday, living life without a specific purpose
the possibility of going to a rural mountainous area and stayed at a small place just for cleaning the soul, just to be with yourself in silence everyday, in some way, it is kinda cutting you out from the outside world.
the possibility of going to an island and looking for balance, a balance between pleasure and divine devotion.
Aren't we all looking for a balance in our entire life?
We have tons of emotions everyday, every week, every month and every year. some good, some bad. some destroyed you, some nourished you. Some made u go up, some made u go down.
sometimes I think that people do not really think about what they want is because this question is too big, too deep, too strong that if u really think about it and find the answer at last,or even just sense a vague tendency towards the ultimate answer, it may change your life a lot, and make it upside down. And this frightens a lot of people.
the mysterious uncertainty of what may happen frightens people so most choose to run away and just escape this question
But nothing is easy, life is hard
nobody ever said that life is easy. It is hard cuz despite the fact that GOD arranges a fate to everyone, part of your destiny is still in your own hand, You can change it, You can earn it, You can choose it and make it your way.
However for some people, even thinking about what they really want it hard, cuz it is hard to figure out what one really wants, it takes time, it takes efforts, it even needs you to look at yourself thoroughly and face all the mistakes you made or achievements you obtained in your life. But living the pattern life is way easier, you do not need to think, you do not need to struggle, it is already there. you just need to live it.
I love this book cuz I relate it to my own self-discovery, I wouldn't say that I already found out everything I want in my life and have a wonderful blueprint, instead I am still figuring it out, but at least it is in a right direction and I am at peace with myself, with the inner me.
I am always haunted by negative emotions in the past, especially when I first entered university and face a brand-new life, everything is different and I got lost. something fall apart and life overwhelmed me as i did not truly know what I really want
It is a hard time as I do not know how to face it and decided to escape it by eating a lot everyday, trying to fill the emptiness inside my heart, that big black hole that takes all my positive energy and dragged me in everyday.
I was not happy, I was always in rage with myself, I was impatient, I was even blocking other people at that time, drowning in my own pathetic thoughts
It miserable. It really was and if u did not try to step out of this cage that lock you, this chain that tied you, then day after day, you will be a black hole yourself
that is why I find it really important, this self-discovery thing.
I regard it as a life-long course we all have to take and learn.
part of the reason I decided to go to the United States as exchange student is because I want to find out what I really want
and I know I can not do it here, in a familiar place surrounded by tons of familiar people.
I just have to go to somewhere else, somewhere entirely new, somewhere I can be a total stranger there, somewhere nobody knows me nobody meets me before, somewhere I can start fresh because everything will be new
Travel is a good way, or in other words, going to another place is a good way to pick yourself up, or to start fresh, when you are totally lost and at the bottom.
I think maybe to some extent, you just need to get lost in a new country or place when you are lost in your own life
Overwhelming by the brand-new everything in another place is gonna change your focus and enables you to look at life in another way. And trying to live a life in this new environment, trying to figure everything out there will in some way, clear up your own lost minds.
And just as Elizabeth, I did find myself in the new place, begin to live a life I always want, and begin to appreciate lots of things or people in my life, everyday is wonderful, maybe not every minute wonderful, but in the end, it always is wonderful. How grateful I am!
it is all about fun or pleasure sometimes, not everything has a meaning to add or a goal to achieve. sometimes it is just about having fun, about getting drunk, about dancing high, about being whoever you want you be. To all those pressures and responsibilities we add to ourselves, we need the guts to say "I don't give a damn" sometimes in our life.
yes GUT
that is the important element. most people do not have that
do not have the gut to do a lot of things. to take risk, to change life, to fall in love madly, to just be yourself.
it is the choice we made, the people we met, the life we lived that made us who we are now, that changed us, that delighted us, that helped us, that made us a better person as we are walking right towards to what we really want, without hesitation.
I would rather like to live like this, trying to figure out who I really am, what I really want, instead of just choosing an easy path but ending up just like everyone else
It is hard all this, cuz you could meet the wrong people, you could choose the wrong choice, you could end up in sorrow or pain. But you could also meet great love, you could also made the right decision and discover something new, you could also end up in happiness that other people could not feel the same cuz they never understand.
Everything is possible, cuz that is real life.
so real that it is desperate and hopeful at the same time, it is the splendid combination of heaven and hell
it is so real that I can feel my heart bouncing, my heart breathing and that's what matters
Something I love in the book:
-P34
"to find the balance you want," Ketut spoke through his translator, "this is what you must become. You must keep your feet grounded so firmly on the earth that it is like you have four legs, instead of two. that way, you can stay in the world. But you must stop looking at the world through your head. you must look through your heart, instead. that way, you will know GOD."
-P85
"So be lonely, Liz. learn your way around loneliness. make a map of it. sit with it, for once in your life. welcome to the human experience. but never again use another person's body or emotions as a a scratching post for your own unfulfilled yearning"
-P94
"But I explained that deep grief sometimes is almsot like a specific location, a coordinate on a map of time. when you are standing in that forest of sorrow, you cannot imagine that you could ever find your way to a better place. but if someone can assure you that they themselves have stood in that same place, and now have moved on, sometimes this will bring hope."
-P127
"that it is better to live your own destiny perfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else's life with perfection."
-P154
"But I felt a glimmer of happiness when I started studying Italian, and when you sense a faint potentiality for happiness after such dark times you must grab on to the ankles of that happiness and not let go until it drags you face-first out of the dirt-that is not selfishness, but obligation. you were given life, it is your duty and also your entitlement as a human being to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.
-P175
you are, after all, what yo thing. your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions.
-P187
the resting place of the mind is the heart. the only thing the mind hears all day is clanging bells and noise and argument, and all it wants is quietude. the only place the mind will ever find peace is inside the silence of the heart. that is where you need to go.
-P197
"someday you are gonna look back on this moment of your life as such a sweet time of grieving. you'll see that you were in mourning and your heart was broken, but your life was changing and you were in the best possible place in the world for it-in a beautiful place of worship, surrounded by grace. take this time, every minute of it. let things work themselves out here in India."
-P198
"He probably was your soulmate. you problem is that you don't understand what that word means. people think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. but a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. a true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. but to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. too painful. soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave. and one go. it's over, Groceries. David's purpose was to shake you up, drive you out of that marriage that you needed to leave, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light could get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you had to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master and beat it. that was his job and he did great, but now it is over. problem is, you can't accpet that this relationship had a real short shelf life. you're like a dog at the dump, baby- you are just licking at an empty tin can, trying to get more nutrition out of it. and if you are not careful, that can's gonna get stuck on your snout forever and make your life miserable. so drop it."
-P234
prayer is a relationship, half the job is mine. if i want transformation, but can't even be bothered to articulate what, exactly, i am aiming for, how will it ever occur? half the benefit of prayer is in the asking itself, in the offering of a clearly posed and well-considered intention.
-P235
Destiny,I feel, is also a relationship- a play between divine grace and willful self-effort. Half of it you have to control over, half of it is absolutely in your hands, and your actions will show measurable consequence. Man is neither entirely a puppet of the gods, nor is he entirely the captain of his own destiny. he's a little of both. we gallop through our lives like circus performers balancing on two speeding side-by-side horses- one foot is on the horse called "fate", the other on the horse called "free will". and the question you have to ask every day is, which horse is which? which horse do i need to stop worrying about beacuse it;s not under my control, and which do i have to steer with concentrated effort?"
-P345
It is easy enough to pray when you are in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments.
-P368
and love is always complicated, but still human must try to love each other, darling. we must get our hearts broken sometimes. this is a good sign, having a broken heart. it means we have tried for something.
-P397
to lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life.
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发表于 2013-5-25 01:10:31
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