03 October 1987:
22 years ago, on this date, we decided on a journey. It was a day where we took the choice to end the pursuit to happiness in life and making it a reality. It became the beginning. The birth of a shared vision to bring in the true nature of life to grow. It is in our human nature to bond with another and, in the words of Aristotle, "Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence". We ended our ignorance and preoccupied our wants for matters of great importance. Of a better quality of life that will bring us to the grave.
We deliberately, at our conscious level, sought out happiness within and never allowed to think it was just as an external acquisition. Perhaps, we are soul mate and even if that was so, we learned to savour and appreciated the basic pleasures being a companion to each other. For soul mates to survive, it must be mixed with a different set of ingredients. It needed the realization through experiences for knowledge. For passion. There must be a burning desire to ease each other out from confusion, from pain and from sufferings. We learned to achieve our unique virtures and strengths and employed them to enhance our lives. All, because we wanted to find a deep sense of fulfillment for that meaningful life.
It reminds me so much the writing of Morris L West in "A View From The Ridge" on being full human - the journey that we wanted to walk this life, side by side:
"It takes so much to be a full human being that there are very few who have the enlightenment or the courage to pay the price. One has to abandon altogether the search for security and reach out to the risk of living with both arms. One has to embrace the world like a lover. One has to accept pain as a condition of existence. One has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing. One needs a will stubborn in conflict, but apt always to total acceptance of every consequence of living and dying."
I just love you because I do. I can't change it. I am thankful for all the patience and tolerance. Above all, I am grateful that we desire to create mutual understanding to maintain peace and harmony. To form a partnership of two individuals and that this partnership is enriched and enhanced when it allows our personalities involved to grow.
Indeed, we grew and developed gradually from understanding. From true loyalty and not just sheer indulgence. We provided a fine basis for development and taken delightful association, of two different individuals, to be nurtured. To be free from loneliness and deprivation. We strived to develop a complementary role, giving strength and moral courage to one another. Each manifesting a supportive and appreciative recognition of the other's strengths and weaknesses in caring and providing for the quality of life we had been searching for.
I am in bliss with a partnership of equality. Of gentleness. Of generosity. Of calm. Of dedication. Of pure sharing and trust. Never that you asked how much you can get but how much you can give. When my youth starts to fade away, you lay no emphasis but stayed true in your heart and mind, not in what you see. Thank you for never neglecting me even in sickness.
We succeeded to stay true to the reality of wanting to be together. Taken to harmonize our lives by minimizing whatever differences we may have between us. To share all our pains and pleasures and consoling each other and minimized our grievances. I am thankful that we have the strength to stay strong will power to reduce our burdens and misunderstandings.
John J Robinson, in his book "of Suchness" wrote:
"Somehow, when you find the right one, you know it in your heart. It is not just an infatuation of the moment. But the powerful urges of sex drive a young person headlong into blind acts and one cannot trust his feelings too much. This is especially true if one drinks and get befuddled; the lousiest slut in a dark bar can look like a Venus then, and her charms become irresistible. Love is much more than sex though; it is the biological foundation between a man and a woman; love and sex get all inter-twined and mixed up".
I am thankful that I just know that you are the right one. And, I thank God that I met you not when I was drunk nor with a befuddled state of mind.
Today, I am praying for your health. For peace within your heart and mind. For all the joy that will always keep you company.
I am blessed to know, and have, you. For the friendship, love, wisdom, joy, inner peace, wholeness, salvation, enlightenment. A connection to the source of things. And experience of the ground of being.
This is the song that used to accompany us:
.. and for the many more years ahead.
I just love you.