Authentic August – Day 13
Something I always talk about is the difference between knowing a thing in theory and knowing a thing in practice, or through experience. For example, while I may know that my family loves me and that I love my family, I’m unsure that we experience that fully. To me the experience of love should feel so overwhelming that you ache. Like a deep joy that overflows your heart which then leads to the impulse to hug your person, to tear a little just thinking of them, or to vulnerably look them in the eyes and simply say “I love you.”
Yeah, all that mushy gushy stuff… we don’t do that! At least not yet. It’s unbearable to imagine a day when my mom or dad or even me (I would hope my little brother outlives us all) reaches the end of our life without having dived deeper into the experience of love. Yes, I’m okay knowing that we love each other, and I’m very grateful for this and for the fact that we get along – I know not every family is lucky enough to say that – but I will forever strive for deeper connections and experiences with people, especially with my family.
I get that I’m a weirdo. Perhaps I am overly sentimental and highly emotional, but that’s just who I am! And I shouldn’t shy away from that just to stick to the status quo. Growth is the result of relentlessly operating outside of your comfort zone. And I think we can agree that pushing past our discomfort is well worth reaching a deeper experience of love; it’s well worth reaching new heights in the experience of life.
Let’s illustrate this theory vs. practice idea with a simpler example: living a healthy life. We all know what it takes to live a healthy life. Eat more veggies, consume less processed foods, and get active three to five times a week. Simple. Just plug and play and you’re on your way. But even though a lot of us know this to be true, we somehow fail to put that knowledge into practice, so we don’t actually experience a healthier body, much to our body’s dismay.
This reminds me of one of my all-time favorite quotes from the book that kickstarted my obsession with personal development, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey:
“To learn and not to do is really not to learn. To know and not to do is really not to know.”
I’ve spent a whole lot of time learning. I’ve spent a whole lot of time accumulating knowledge. But I’ve only spent a portion of that time doing. On executing on that knowledge. In a lot of ways this stage of my life feels like a time for doing. For putting everything I’ve learned over the years into practice. I don’t mean to minimize the growth that I have experienced up to now – in fact, I’m rather far removed from the person I once was – I’m just saying that it feels like I’m on the verge of some new, fresh growth. And I know the key lies in doing the work. In doing the work we know we ought to. So let’s get to work, shall we?
With LOVE,
Q.