Gift from the Sea -Anne Lindbergh
Sometimes we need to put down the high action, politically charged books that keep us up at night and cause us to fear the future or the unknown. Instead we could all use a little dose of inspiring and uplifting encouragement. The Lindbergh family carries a plethora of rumors, faults, accusations, and, I’m sure, much guilt but in this instance Anne Lindbergh had some wise and inspiring points to ponder. I loved her view on women needing a little break from daily household chores; I also loved her view on the path women must follow in order to find themselves. I have always very strongly believed in the value of alone time!
I wonder how many marriages could be saved if people would understand that “When you love someone you do not love them, all the time, in the exact same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships.” If we expect that the excitement and passion of our first few months of marriage are going to last through old age we are going to be sorely disappointed. Marriage and relationships change, sometimes for the worse but often for the better. It can be difficult to recognize the changes taking place in marriage and so many times we jump to conclusions and give up on the other person far too soon.
Gift from the Sea also says, “Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what it was in nostalgia, nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now.” When we spend our time constantly trying to relive the good times and in utter fear of the bad we can’t possibly enjoy the everyday. Sure, there are periods in my life I wish I could relive and when I allow myself to consider the pains I MIGHT one day go through I shudder. But these thoughts are neither helpful nor encouraging. The thing that matters most to my relationships is today, not only how I am treated today but how I treat others today. This philosophy requires a great deal of forgiveness and a great deal of humility. Bringing up the past almost never improves the future.
Historical Value- 0
Emotional Value- 4
Entertainment Value- 2
Personal Character Value- 4
Age recommendation- 18 and up
“Women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves.”
“The shape of my life is, of course, determined by many things; my background and childhood, my mind and its education, my conscience and its pressures, my heart and its desires.”
“When you love someone you do not love them, all the time, in the exact same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships.”
“Woman must come of age by herself…She must find her true center alone.”
“When the heart is flooded with love there is no room in it for fear, for doubt, for hesitation.”
“Every step, even a tentative one, counts.”
“woman must be still as the axis of a wheel in the midst of her activities; that she must be the pioneer in achieving this stillness, not only for her own salvation, but for the salvation of family life, of society, perhaps even of our civilization.”
“I find there is a quality to being alone that is incredibly precious. Life rushes back into the void, richer, more vivid, fuller than before.”
“The most exhausting thing in life, I have discovered, is being insincere. That is why so much of social life is exhausting; one is wearing a mask. I have shed my mask.”
“Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what it was in nostalgia, nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now.”
