Strength to Lift Her Head



 

“I believe that everything happens for a reason.

People change so that you can learn to let go,

things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right,

you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself,

and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”

 

Marilyn Monroe

 

This quote attracted me, and then I was surprised to find the person who spoke these words was Marilyn Monroe.  Her quote stirred up a sadness within me.  I have never really thought of this actress as being particularly smart let alone insightful, but rather a sex idol who died extremely lonely and somehow connected to JFK. 

 

I truly do believe that everything happens for a reason even though it may not be apparent at the time.  It seems that it is only in hindsight that we are able to draw the connect between our challenge, endurance, and resulting gratification. 

 

People change, including our selves, creating shifts in relationships.  Some times we are the ones out growing our situation and painfully we are at times the ones left behind.  Herein lies the importance of always sharing our feelings with those passing through our lives, as we never know when change will arrive. 

 

I find my self wishing Ms. Monroe would have tolerated her experience when things went wrong, long enough to appreciate the right that might have followed.  Perhaps there were too many things going wrong, and she could no longer be patient in waiting for things to be right.

 

"You believe the lies" she says, "so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself."  And when a person is not deeply entrenched with self-worth, what then?  If a person only has self and that self is living in the dark and does not have the strength to lift her head to see even the smallest light, not only do the masks slip away, so does the essence of being.

 

The cycle of life presents a challenge, we learn from the challenge, and it makes us stronger for the next challenge.  Things do fall apart and sometimes the Phoenix rises from the ashes; but some times it doesn't.  When the crashing and burning are persistent, with out pockets of fresh air, indeed, one may not ever see the way things might have been rebuilt in a better way.

 

To  me, these are all sad words as they reflect a woman who was not able to maintain her authenticity.  She allowed others to over ride her personal integrity, misguiding her to her  own demise.  Yes, she became a wealthy icon, but what exactly was the price she paid ... for her not using her strength to be her true self.