One misunderstandin g is that if you do the right thing, then life's storms will stop. If you do the right thing, the storms actually get bigger. This is because they know they can't blow you down like they used to, and now it's going to take a lot more energy to find out if you are conscious.
Your only real choices are to open fully and receive their gifts or crucify them and be relieved of their force...But you must be willing to feel your heart's terrors and wounds or else you will close and protect yourself, striking back at the source of openness you most yearn to become.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of vulnerability and openness in relationships, suggesting that to truly connect, one must confront their fears and wounds.
David Deida's quote conveys a powerful message about the dual nature of relationships: on one hand, we can embrace vulnerability and openness, allowing ourselves to fully receive and appreciate the gifts that others bring into our lives. On the other hand, if we choose to protect ourselves by closing off and retaliating against vulnerability, we push away the very connections that could bring us fulfillment. It highlights the necessity of confronting our inner fears and emotional wounds to achieve deeper, more meaningful relationships.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on emotional intelligence at a workshop.
More from David Deida
All quotes →Whereas women are most turned on by a man's depth of presence,_x000D_ men are most turned on by a woman's radiance and energy:_x000D_ how she moves, moans, smiles, and opens in love.
Whatever is your present experience, you can recognize the spaciousness that allows it to be. You are this spaciousness, this awareness, this love. Deeper love and more spacious awareness is the best lesson you can get from any experience.
Practicing love often means feeling through fear: intentionally opening yourself when you would rather close down, giving yourself when you would rather hide. Love means recognizing yourself as the open fullness of this moment regardless of its contents -- trenchant thoughts, enchanting pleasures, heavy emotions, or gnawing pains -- and surrendering all hold on the familiar act you call 'me'.
Every man knows that his highest purpose in life cannot be reduced to any particular relationship. If a man prioritizes his relationship over his highest purpose, he weakens himself, disserves the universe, and cheats his woman of an authentic man who can offer his full, undivided presence.
If you are waiting for anything in order to live and love without holding back, then you suffer. Every moment is the most important moment of your life. No future time is better than now to let down your guard and love.
Similar quotes
Elizabeth had never been more at a loss to make her feelings appear what they were not. It was necessary to laugh, when she would rather have cried.
My chastity's the jewel of our house, bequeathed down from many ancestors.
We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.
Now she had a fumbling knowledge that, had she ever understood Ashley, she would never have loved him; had she ever understood Rhett, she would never have lost him.
When men do the dishes, it's called helping. When women do the dishes, it is called life.
All that a husband or wife really wants is to be pitied a little, praised a little, and appreciated a little.