Hey there, it's Susan Peirce Thompson, and welcome to the Weekly Log.
I want to talk this week about a saying, a motto, a proverb that's of Dutch Origin. 1622 is the first recorded instance of this in human history, and it is: ÒLive and Let Live.Ó It also shows up in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous at the end of one of the chapters. I think it's one of the chapters about families that says, these three mottos are apropos, ÒFirst things first, easy does it, live and let live.Ó Live and let live.
I mean, the general idea of Live and Let Live is just to be tolerant and accepting of how other people live their life, how they do things, what they choose to do, how they choose to do it, especially if it's different from what you do, or how you would do it. I feel like this message is maybe especially apropos during the holiday season, which is when I'm recording this vlog, that sort of November/December time frame, where a lot of us spend extra time with family members, maybe the people who remind us why live and let live is such a helpful orientation toward life in Bright Line Eating¨.Ê
We have our own version of Live and Let Live, and it's: ÒKeep your eyes on your own plate.Ó Keep your eyes on your own plate. I think that as a lot of people start Bright Line Eating, they get really excited about it and fervent, maybe even fanatical about it and it can make them kind of, I mean, I think I was like this too, initially, kind of judgy about how other people eat and how other people are or aren't taking care of their bodies and their physical health and whatnot. And so, we say, Òkeep your eyes on your own plate.Ó Keep your eyes on your own plate. I think that the live and let live meaning focuses heavily on the let live part of that proverb. Live and let live for words.Ê
I think "let live" is what the proverb means. Let other people live the way they're going to live to thine own self be true, and for them to their own selves be true. I think that the world works best when it's man-on-man defense and the person that we're guarding is us. When I was a kid, I played basketball in grade school, and there's two main types of basketball defenses. There's zone defense where you're guarding an area and then there's man-on-man defense when you're guarding a person and your job is to stick to them like glue and just guard your person. I think that the way the world works best is if each of us is guarding ourselves, advocating for ourselves, caring for ourselves, making sure that our side of the street is clean in every affair. If everyone does that, the world is utopia, right?Ê
If everyone keeps their side of the street clean, the world has nothing but clean streets. And yeah, we don't always do that perfectly, of course, but I think it's the only setup that really works. I don't know who said it, but in this life, I am charged with the care of just one soul, and that's my own. Maybe I said that, I'm not sure, but I love that I'm charged with the care of just one soul and that is my own. So yeah, during the holiday season, people can, family members can just maybe remind us why it's so helpful to live and let live, to trust that they're taking care of themselves, that they have a higher power in their life, they have their own way of doing things, and it's none of our business. Not my monkey, not my circus. I didn't cause it. I can't cure it. I can't control it. The three Cs of Al-Anon, what they're doing is it's on their side of the street. It's not fundamentally mine to judge, manager, or control. It's none of my business.Ê
But what I want to say about this saying is that I think the first word of it is so often overlooked. The saying just doesn't say or doesn't just say, Òlet live.Ó It's live and let live. Reminding us that we have our lives to live, and that our contribution to other people's well-being is actually in living an exquisite life ourselves. And being a model of what? Bold, Bright, self-caring, self respectful, compassionate, kind, ethical, civil, thoughtful, humble, earnest living looks like in practice to the best of our ability. If we live, we are a billboard, a walking billboard for what it looks like to manifest self-actualization, self authorship, self-agency in every area of life. And it's inspiring. If we want other people to be inspired, be inspiring. What we can do is to live, and then our focus is on ourselves, right where it belongs, and we are being the best version of ourselves that we can possibly be. Right? Before you go casting stones, get your own house in order. You might be living in a glass box. It's not your place to be throwing stones, right?
Look at yourself first and goodness, and what a privilege it is to have a life to live. Sometimes I just look around in awe and wonder and think maybe the purpose of life is just to be amazed by it. Just to look around at the beauty and the struggle and the death and the rebirth, and just be so gobsmacked by the privilege of getting to be awake and alive for each minute of this. To just be present for as many of the moments as possible, to let it sink in, deep into the flesh, and soul, and bones, and just live in wonderment of it. It's an incredible thing. This life, live and let live. That's the weekly vlog. I'll see you next week.
