Loving Fiercely

Breaking down a poem that speaks to the struggles we go through for our true passion.

I feel seen!

Yesterday I went for a run and decided to listen to poet David Whyte’s sessions on the Waking Up app. In these sessions, David reads his poetry and provides commentary in which he shares what he was doing and events in his life around the time of writing that inspired him to write the poems. For example, he shared that he wrote the poem Finisterre for his niece, who had just completed the 500-mile pilgrimage to Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The poem examines the power of our development, the changes we go through, and our progress in life. 

David’s commentary helps to connect with his beautiful words at a deeper level because he writes about what we all experience in life. Even though the subjects he writes about may have a biblical angle, his poems, as he put it, are for “people of all persuasions, and no persuasions,” meaning these are for everyone, regardless of your beliefs. 

Listen to David Whyte reading his poem "The Truelove" By brainpicker

David Whyte’s poem “The True Love” grabbed me like no other poem, so I want to break it down to share what resonated with me.

The True Love

By David Whyte

There is a faith in loving fiercely
the one who is rightfully yours,
especially if you have
waited years and especially
if part of you never believed
you could deserve this
loved and beckoning hand
held out to you this way.

Life is hard.

We go through a lot of struggles to get the life we want.

When we are in that struggle, we can get lost and forget that we deserve a good life as much as anyone else and can lose our way, yet we keep pushing forward to reach our goal. 

We are survivors!

We walk through the storms along the way using all our strength, one step at a time and one setback at a time, yet keep moving towards our light.

You know when you have waited a long time for something good in your life and finally get what you worked for all this time?

Where you once thought it was impossible to be happy in life, love, or work, but now have what you worked so hard for. 

You will love it fiercely with all your heart. 

Being in the depths of a struggle is a challenge. When you never thought you could have what you have now is an amazing feeling. The *“loved and beckoning hand held out to you “* is life giving you what you have always wanted, and now it is yours to experience and live with fully and love fiercely, which is a beautiful place to be. 

I am thinking of faith now
and the testaments of loneliness 
and what we feel we are
worthy of in this world.

When we are in the depths of our struggles, and there doesn’t seem to be a way out, we begin to think we are not worthy of a better life or love. Maybe it’s just not for us.

We hit rock bottom, but we still move forward.

We strive forward.

We push through with even an ounce of belief that we are doing what we love to do, and one day, it will work out. 

Because each of us is worthy of a good life.

Keeping faith that we will overcome helps us keep moving through life's rough waters.

Years ago in the Hebrides,
I remember an old man
who walked every morning
on the grey stones
to the shore of baying seals,
who would press his hat
to his chest in the blustering
salt wind and say his prayer
to the turbulent Jesus  
hidden in the water,

Day after day, struggle after struggle, we push through and do what we must—taking one step at a time to learn, grow, and develop ourselves to prepare for where we are going. We tell ourselves that one day we will get there so we stay on the path. 

We believe in ourselves even if the world doesn’t.

Our North Star was faintly visible in the storms we had to endure. The scars we have from the tumultuous journey speaks to the brave soul we needed to be to get through this challenge and the next, and the next.
 

and I think of the story
of the storm and everyone
waking and seeing
the distant
yet familiar figure
far across the water
calling to them

We barely make out our direction but know in our hearts what is calling us. We long for the shoreline. We long for the solid ground to hold, support, and lift us to a better place. Whether in life or work, we see the light of the beacon, letting us know we are headed toward better times and encouraging us to overcome the struggles, the pain, the sorrow, and the challenges.

and how we are all
preparing for that
abrupt waking,
and that calling,
and that moment
we have to say yes,
except it will
not come so grandly
so Biblically
but more subtly
and intimately in the face
of the one you know
you have to love

That moment will arrive. The one we strive towards. Our calling will be in front of us, and we will have to trust our intuition to say yes, we are ready. To do what we love, we must grab the torch, step up, and take responsibility. We must leave our comfort zone and find the energy to start our new journey. It may not be an obvious choice, and it may not be an easy choice because we may have to give up something we love to get what we truly want. To get what is ours. To get what we have struggled for. But by listening to the voice within us and trusting our intuition, we can make this choice when we need to because we are moving toward what we truly love.

so that when  
we finally step out of the boat  
toward them, we find  
everything holds  
us, and everything confirms  
our courage, and if you wanted  
to drown you could,  
but you don’t  
because finally  
after all this struggle  and all these years  
you simply don’t want to  
any more  
you’ve simply had enough  
of drowning  
and you want to live and you  
want to love and you will  
walk across any territory  
and any darkness  
however fluid and however  
dangerous to take the
one hand you know  
belongs in yours.

Once we have arrived and committed to our new journey, we can go all in and see that everything in the universe will support us. As we run forward we gain courage and confidence to stay the course and push through. We do have the choice of not pursuing our calling but having gone through the storms, the waves, the failures, the heartbreaks, and the disappointments we have experienced; we choose not to go backward. 

We charge forward. 

We want to live, and we want to love with all our hearts. 

We want to give our calling, our true love in life, love and work our best from the depths of our passion. 

Now that we have tasted what we longed for, we know this is our home and where we belong. 

We will do anything, even going through it all once again to get a taste of this moment. 

We will strive and rush towards the one hand, the one calling and our true love that is meant only for us.

David Whyte’s poem “The True Love”(Affiliate Link) made me feel seen. The words speak to the struggles in my journey to get where I am today. In my love, career, and life, I have gone through turbulent times, but now I have arrived, and I plan on enjoying every minute of it because this is where I belong, with my true love.

Do you have a poem that resonates with you or touches your soul? Share it in the comments or send it to rizwan@lowfidelity.io

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Share your story! ✨

I want to highlight stories of how my readers are tackling their inner challenges, hoping it will inspire and provide courage to others experiencing similar challenges.

What would this look like? I’ll send you a few written questions about the inner challenges you have experienced and how you have moved past them or are working on them currently.

Let me know if you’re interested! Thanks in advance!

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Thanks for reading,

Rizwan