Monday, October 8, 2012

Thought for the Day, #51


Over the past several months, I've received emails from a number of young gay men wanting to know how to meet someone, fall in love, and begin a relationship.  I've given them the best advice I know, based on my experience being in a relationship with my partner, Chris, over the past twenty-plus years.  

But, in my recent reading, I found several quotes from Cheryl Strayed in Tiny Beautiful Things, which constitute about the best advice anyone could ever offer on the subject, whether you're gay or straight.  I share these with you below:

...Your best course is to do what everyone who is looking for love does: put your best self out there with as much transparency and sincerity and humor as possible.  [p. 199, ebook edition]

We have to be whole people to find whole love, even if we have to make it up for a while. [p. 275, ebook edition]

Honesty is a core value in any healthy and successful relationship.  [p. 340, ebook edition]

And, finally, the best advice of all, the piece that tells us meeting someone, falling in love, and sharing a life together is nothing less than magic:  

The question about who you will love and when you will love him is out of your hands.  It's a mystery that you can't solve.  [p. 153, ebook edition]

*

I cannot recommend Strayed's Tiny Beautiful Things more highly.  She is not your "Dear Abby" or your "Ann Landers" (for those of you who remember them as well-known advice columnists).  The readers's letters in Strayed's book, and her advice that can only be described as extraordinary, are as profound and as gritty as you'll ever read.

I believe this book will change you in ways you can't imagine.  Please read it.  I urge you.

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