“Sometimes you have to step away from what you love in order to learn how to love it again.” -Damien Rice Share on X
I have no idea what the author was thinking when he wrote these words but they have been stuck in my head ever since I first read them.
There are things that I used to love that I did step away from. When I asked myself why I stepped away, a mixture of answers, reasons or excuses began filling my thought waves.
Regardless of why I stepped away, I do have longing to engage again with some of the things I loved and left.
The word that really captures me in this quote is LEARN…the idea that I will need to LEARN how to love “it” again!
Just as shown in this photo, for example, walking is one of those loves that I stepped away from and I do feel like I need to LEARN how to love it again.
I do have the longing. I miss my memories of how I felt before. The pure joy, contentment and calmness of being outdoors! I definitely miss the results I saw and felt in my body.
But I can see that there will be a learning curve this time around. It’s not as easy to get started as it was before. So this learning will require embracing a new way to begin, too. It could be I need to embrace a whole new approach, a new location and setting, a new time of day. Everything may need to be different!
I need to be willing to embrace the idea of “different than it was before.”
Perhaps my current challenge in trying to begin again is that everything needs to be different and that fact alone has been holding me back from starting.
I really believe I’m on to something. That these words in this quote are giving me the incentive I needed. It’s telling me I can go back to an old love but there will be a learning curve. That loving again will be different, fresh, new. That things are never exactly the same as they once were. And that is ok!
Be willing to learn. Be willing to let an old love become a new love whatever that may look like. Be open. Don’t limit the possibilities. Don’t confine the present and future possibilities to the details of an old memory.
We never really can go back. Life only moves forward, grows, develops, unfolds. That’s the nature of life! But the old can become new when we let it! So…off I go! Right now! Walking shoes are on! Not the time of day I used to go walking but I’m going anyway.
How about you? Do you have an old love you would like to learn how to love again?
Annette Bridges
Author, Publisher and Women's Retreat Host
Annette Bridges is an author, publisher and women’s retreat host on a mission to help every woman realize her story is extraordinary, valuable and noteworthy. Part of Annette’s own journaling practice includes collecting ideas, quotes, songs, videos and photos that inspire her. She shares some of her finds in these weekly “Be Inspired” posts to lift your spirit with encouragement, comfort and joy.
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