Wednesday, September 13, 2006

If . . . If Only

I looked at him.

Everyone saw one kind of person – aggressive, argumentative, and a bit of a show-off. I saw a little kid who had been left behind, standing at window waiting for a dad who never came. Why couldn’t they see past his actions to his heart? The whole story was right there, written in his eyes, on his face. When you talked to his heart, his head listened, his actions followed.

If . . .

If only . . .

If only you would just see past the surface to who he is. that he wants to be, just be, just like everyone else. If you could see, you would know. If you didn’t take what he does personally. . . he doesn’t know how else to protect himself, he doesn't know.

If he wasn’t so aggressive, argumentative, and that a bit of a show-off.

If you knew him, you would love him. You wouldn't want his heart to hurt.

If . . .

If only . . .

If only we could see past the surface to who we are and that we just want to be, just like everyone else. If we could see, we would know know.

If we could see ourselves, we wouldn't want anyone's heart to hurt.

No wonder we have such a hard time with love.

−me strauss Letting me be

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

The trouble often is that even when we sometimes see past the external to all that lies within we still can't touch or reach the other. Sometimes the barbs on the outside, the defensive walls are just too dense, almost impenetrable, built up over years of aloneness and misunderstanding.
If only they weren't there. If only we didn't suffer such injury and then pass it on.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hi atyllah,
Your words make such an image in my mind like the castle the prince had to slice and cut through to find his way to Sleeping Beauty. You're right. It's such work and such terrible work at that, dangerous and painful, sometimes hardly worth the trying. We do suffer injury. If only we could melt the the defenses with enough care and love . . . especially when the one inside is a child.

Anonymous said...

Liz, your post takes me deep inside myself yet again this morning. I think what it all comes down to is love. In order to see, truly see, another, we have to start from a stance of love. It's the same when we try to look at ourselves. I think only love can see beyond the aggresive, argumentative, show-offiness and layers of self-protection. Otherwise, there is no authentic motivation.

I think that if we could just love ourselves in the best and truest sense of that word, we could not bear that anyone's heart would hurt.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Good morning, Dawn,
I think love is the way that we look in someone's eyes and know that this person has been somewhere sad or is feeling joy. I think it is how we understand that their words are not meant to hurt, but meant to protect and we find a way to forgive rather than fight back.

Love is a powerful way to approach the world. If only we understood that.

dsnake1 said...

Liz, your post gets me thinking.

What if i'm inside looking out? There was a time i lost a loved one to sickness and i think the people around me, whether friends or strangers, view me as aggressive and unstable. Most would not understand the pain and anger i was going through at that time. Time will heal the wounds, as it had done with me.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Dsnake,
What a man you are to look and think "that could be me" at another time. You see him too. That's what I was talking about. Thank you for your comment, for sharing who you are.

Anonymous said...

I think we have all experienced this feeling, this attitude at when time or another in our lives. The whole story. You have to learn to look for the whole story.

Sad to say, very few people ever do look for the whole story, look past what is seen with the naked eye and investigate what lies deepter,

Ruth,

http://ruthsinformationabout.com/the-whole-story/

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hi Ruth,
You've hit the nail on the head with that one. So few of us take the time to find out or look for the whole story. Yet we all have one, don't we?

Trée said...

Very, very powerful post Liz.

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hi Tree,
Thank you, I wish so hard sometimes that I can feel you sitting in that leather chair . . .

Trée said...

I'm there more than you know. Home away from home I like to think of it as. :-)

"ME" Liz Strauss said...

Hi Tree!
Funny, the chair and I to think of things that way too. :)