The Secret of Life

I know it sounds pretentious for an 18-year-old to say that she knows the secret of life. But I have spent two years discovering this secret, and I have spent about a month putting my finger on it, and now I'm ready to let it go. Posting the secret on a blog almost feels demeaning, like I should be saving this up for something bigger. Then again, this secret is not the fine china that you keep in the glass cupboard waiting for company good enough to use it.

Here it is.

Love. Not the noun, not the thing that we call love, but the verb. The act of loving. It's easy to love when life is good and you're happy and everything is going exactly the way you want it to go. But that is not when you need to love. You have to love when you're too tired and you're scared, and even when it hurts you. Find things to love and places to love and people to love.

Wake up in the morning and love it, the sun and the clean air and the fresh start, even if you're afraid of what the day might bring. Love the human beings in your life that aren't perfect, that sometimes frustrate you or hurt you, or leave you for another life. Love God, even though you can't touch him or see him and sometimes you're not sure how much you believe anymore. Find the one thing that makes the universe click into place and love it, no matter how much it doesn't pay, or how impossible it is. Love yourself, when you do things you're proud of and also when you do things that you wish you didn't have to live up to.

Every opportunity you have, love. If there is a beautiful sunrise, love it. Make a wonderful lunch and look foward to it all day. Laugh until you cry whether it's appropriate or not. Learn something new and revel in it. Make plans with friends and go ahead and count on them. Spend a half hour on your bike and enjoy it. Have the diligence to love every little thing, and have the courage to love every big thing.

Sometimes, when life just plain sucks, it seems easier to close up and stop loving, stop feeling. But it's not any better. Slowly, over time, you begin to lose yourself. You just have to let it hurt, ride out waves of terror and love no matter what. Don't ask me how it works, but I can tell you what love can do. Loving in the face of weakness produces strength. Loving in spite of fear makes courage. Loving when it hurts brings joy, and loving when you're not sure brings faith. Loving when the end of something is eminent is really, truly living. As long as you love you will not lose, you will not die.

It is not the secret to an easy life. It isn't the magic word that protects you from all of the bad stuff. But love does make life beautiful. It makes life worth living. Love is the only thing that means anything, it's our only chance, our only hope. It would take a lifetime to find the right words to explain how important this is. Just trust me, fall in love with life. Just love.