“Love is the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth… Love is as love does. Love is an act of will — namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love.”
I understood the true meaning of Love, Parenting and most of all Forgiveness through this workshop. Marriage is definitely not an easy ride, its a journey with lots of ups and downs. A journey in which each phase you learn something new and get stronger with each passing day. I have definitely grown stronger and more ‘practical’ attending these workshops. It has taught me to accept the truth that “life is difficult” and by accepting this, it also gave me the courage to face it and stay “positive”. It also taught me that ‘life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived’.
I have got better insights to “Parenting” as well. This poem has really motivated me and i would like to share it here:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bow from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrow may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
To sum up, this entire journey of Love class has been wonderful, with lots of learning and sharing from my group. Thanks a ton to Nayna Ma’am and Anita ma’am for the patience and concern that you’ll have shown us throughout.
Maria Dahodwala.