For everyone asking why...

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-10-2003
For everyone asking why...
3
Sat, 01-31-2004 - 4:53pm
i found this quote that i have hanging on my corkboard at my desk...

"i beg you...to have patience with everything unresovlved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. don't search for the answers, which could not be given you now, because you would not be able to live them. and the point is, to live everythign. live the questions now. perhaps then, someday far in the furture, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer..."

- rainer maria rilke

Writer and poet, considered one of the greatest lyric poets of modern Germany

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-30-2003
Sat, 01-31-2004 - 11:35pm
Hi Sambagita- I've just printed this out for the bulletin board in my office as well. It's funny; often it is said that the universe sends you it's insights when you need them most. Kind of like a cosmic synergy. Most recently I've been plagued with so many questions, and only some answers. Regardless of how much I think I've put together, and how much meaning I think I've acquired, the questions remain. Truly I have been perplexed. I've been advised by caring friends that I either think too much, or not enough. I think it was Anatole France who said that a life of no reflection was not worth living. Of course the opposite could also be true- a life of too much reflection is also not worth living. The key, I guess is to find the middle of the spectrum.

I'm so glad you posted this quote. Hearing this guidance, at this time of my life tells me that it's ok to have unanswered questions. It allows for a sentence without a period. For me there is this need for resolution with everything. I actually feel like a bit of a failure when I am unable to achieve resolution. I literally ponder and ponder and ponder until I have ended up weaving a tapestry of connections to the reasons why I do what I do. I guess myself, and probably a lot of us, are guilty of overcomplicating things.

What I learned from your post today Sambagita, I hope to keep with me. My questions are indeed like foreign books whose meanings I would not be able to comprehend. I suppose all we can do is our best at living our present reality for our loved ones and for ourselves. I need to remember that it is ok not to know the answers right now. Thank you for reminding me.


Snap

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Sun, 02-01-2004 - 2:58am


That's a great quote. I'm going to use that as my screen saver. Who knows, may end up being a life saver as well. I ask too many questions, think too much and talk too much sometimes.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-10-2003
Sun, 02-01-2004 - 7:39pm
hi snap!

i'm glad you found the quote useful. when i came across it, i realized that it was especially apt in this situation.

back in october, i felt so tormented by all of these questions. most importantly, how did i end up where i did...in the middle of b&n, in its relationship section, looking for books on A. i'm sure there are lots of answers. it's a puzzle w/ a bunch of pieces. and w/ time, i think i'll eventually solve it. but i'll never solve it if i drive myself crazy!!!

i guess that why they say "live and learn." instead of "learn and live."

take care,

sambagita