Live without pretending. Love without depending. Listen without defending. Speak without offending.

Four simple sentences. How hard could that possibly be?
Live without pretending.
Does that exclude “fake it until you make it”? Or is that really a way of expressing that a life worth living must be kept real at all times in order to fully savor the experience, learn the life lessons, grow, admit your mistakes and own your shortcomings?
Love without depending.
Of course you want to be in a relationship in which you can depend upon the other person. But what if the love is conditional? What if one party is too reliant upon the other? All of the psychological variances regarding dependency arise.
Listen without defending.
There are moments where we all must listen to someone who is going to express dissatisfaction with who we are. Are we supposed to just listen and accept whatever they say? Or is it wiser to absorb everything that someone is sharing with us prior to your response that makes it clear how your perception of whatever they have expressed is disparate from that which they just shared?
Speak without offending.
In our current polarized world, this is becoming even more challenging than ever before. Is this concept precluding having definitive opinions or is the better lesson learning how to be diplomatic as to never offend an audience with whom you are conversing?
Four simple sentences. Incredibly difficult to actually live by, but certainly worthy of the effort at every possible turn.
I hope this gorgeous Saturday finds you happy and healthy and eating Thanksgiving leftovers✨✨✨
Leave a Comment