Only Fools Rush In - But Maybe they Know Something We Need to Learn

This past weeked I went to see the movie, My Name is Doris, starring Sally Field.  I had seen an interview with Field on the Charlie Rose show the past week so I was excited to see this movie. It was about an older woman who falls in love with a younger man.  As I sat through the movie I both laughed and cried but when it was over, I had a feeling that disturbed me.  I felt the writers and the producers had made fun of Doris and as I told my friend who went with me, it felt like they made her look foolish.  She wore these outlandish clothes, had cat eye classes and wore her hair in a kind of Bridgett Bardo hair style long since out of style.  Being a woman of a certain age myself, I am sensitive to all the jokes and stories about older people - it seems we are often depicted as the butt of jokes and stories and this is something I don't allow in my life.  I value my life in all its ages and stages and have the mantra for everyone, regardless of how old or young they may be we are all valuable.

I felt that a movie that made fun of people my age was not my cup of tea.  But the movie and it's story weighed on me and as I thought about it, I began to see that being a fool or acting in what some might see as being foolish, which is exactly what Doris was doing, may actually be the very thing that jumps starts a new phase in your life.  As the old saying goes, "Only fools fall in love"  Well, Doris fell in love and it was exactly what she needed to do - looking foolish be damned.  

I pondered this and began to look back on the times I had made a fool of myself as well and I had plenty to look at - in fact, what I found was that in many cases the times I had been the most foolish were the times I had in fact learned the most about myself and had moved my life along in a way that staying safe and not acting foolishly would not have done.  In many cases I got my heart broken and I suffered, but the experience deepened me and made me stronger.

So the next time you get an idea to do something a bit outrageous, go for it.  You never know what might happen and that, as it turns out, is what makes life interesting and worthwhile - if we could predict everything and predict it in a way that kept us safe and sound, would we really want to live that life?  I wouldn't.  Life is about living, not about being safe - so try a little foolishness and see where it leads you.

Blessings, Lorraine    





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