‘To embrace the unending possibilities that life has to offer...'

Eat, Pray, Love | Elizabeth Gilbert ❤️

To know oneself is the first step towards leading an authentic life, say the ancient philosophers.

Soren Kierkegaard, the most influential Danish philosopher of the 19th century is no exception towards vouching big to this credo. 

Says he -

‘The biggest danger is the danger of losing oneself in the world as quietly as if it were nothing’.

To Kierkegaard, there is within humans, the dualities of the finite and the infinite!

The ‘finite’ to him, is a limiting, constraining and conditioning factor that impedes and prevents human beings from attaining their fullest potential, whereas the infinite is the ‘expanding factor’ that moots, inspires and motivates infinite possibilities galore within the human!

Hence, ‘to lose oneself in the infinite’ would mean to live your little life on planet earth as though life presents to you a huge foray of unending possibilities of the vast expanse of the unexplored to be unearthed, and uncovered!

To such people as this, life is seen as something so unique, so dynamic and so vibrant, as a ‘series of endlesssssss experiments!’

Elizabeth Gilbert - best-selling author, [who’s celebrating her birthday today], and quite popular the world over for her 2006 memoir titled, Eat, Pray, Love believes with Kierkegaard and his ilk, in ‘losing oneself in the infinite’ to embrace the unending possibilities of the vast expanse of the unexplored to be unearthed and uncovered.

Well, how many of us woulda really had the guts to go out into the whole wi(l)de world, all alone, across countries, ‘to embrace the unending possibilities that life has to offer’ us?

Gilbert, Elizabeth Gilbert, has done that, and how!

Gilbert decides to travel across three different countries in pursuit of three different things –

Italy  for Pleasure,

India for Spirituality, and

Bali for Balance

which correlates with the title of the book – EAT, PRAY & LOVE!

Well, this is one unputdownable read, that requires a beautiful snuggling into a lovely, luxurious couch with Eat, Pray, Love on one hand and with cuppas and cuppas of coffee unplugged on the other!

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, goes the adage!

True-proves to a tee for Gilbert, Elizabeth Gilbert and her book, Eat, Pray, Love

After going through a disheartening divorce, her life seemed shattered.

However, Gilbert was not one to be cowed down by life’s lemons!

She decided, she resolved, and she determined ‘to embrace the unending possibilities that life has to offer’.

That’s when she decides to set out on this freaky, wildy, stargirly adventure that’s gonna take her places and yes! Inspire all of the world for posterity!

‘To embrace the unending possibilities that life has to offer’, she had to take a resolve! A commitment!

A commitment to change!

And this change was not only therapeutic but also transformative for her in every sense of the word!

One thing that you’d love about the book, dear reader, is the fact that, her descriptions are so loveable, with such a reality of representation to them, that you spontaneously fall in love with the people, the places, and things that she offers on a delectable platter for us, her readers!

Without much ado, on a Monday morning as this, would love to give you a few lovely quotes that I’ve so loved reading from off the book!

Here goes –

“If you clear out all of that space in your mind you would have a door way.”

“This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something.”

“Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.”

“Do not apologize for crying. Without this emotion, we are only robots.”

“To travel is worth any cost or sacrifice.”

“God never slams a door in your face without opening a box of Girl Scout cookies.”

“Smile with face, smile with mind, and good energy will come to you and clean away dirty energy.”

A beautiful way to begin our day, ain’t it!

So why wait?

Eat, Pray, Love as quick as you possible can!

With a smile on your face! 😊

Here’s wishing y’all happy reading dear reader!  

PS: For those of you desirous of watching the movie version of this lovely book, for heaven’s sake, please watch it on Netflix, but only after you are done reading with the book from top to finish! Agreed? 😊