Lessons From Eat, Pray, Love

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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjay5vgIwt4&w=784&h=588]

If I’m seeking an “emotional cleanse” of sorts, I watch the film Eat, Pray, Love. Based on Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling memoir, the movie documents one woman’s quest to heal, find peace and restore balance in her life, as she travels through Rome, India and Bali. Her ventures bring forth painful lessons, self discoveries and resonating truths.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the film that may hopefully provide solace for you as well. (And yes, Richard from Texas doles out the gems.)

There is a wonderful old Italian joke about a poor man who goes to church every day, and prays before the statue of a great saint, begging: “Dear saint, please, please, please let me win the lottery.” Finally, the exasperated statue comes to life, looks down at the begging man and says: “My son, please, please, please buy a ticket.” – Liz Gilbert
We all want things to stay the same, David…settle for living in misery, because we’re afraid of change, of things crumbling to ruins. Then I looked around in this place, at the chaos it’s endured, the way it’s been adapted, burned, pillaged…then found a way to build itself back up again, and I was reassured. Ruin is a gift, ruin is the road to transformation. – Liz Gilbert
I just spent some time in Rome, and I came here feeling so great. And now here I am at the source, and I feel more disconnected than ever. – Liz Gilbert
You wanna get to the castle…you got to swim the moat. – Richard From Texas
You have to learn to select your thoughts the way you select your clothes every day. That’s a power you can cultivate. You wanna come here and control your life so bad, work on the mind. That’s the only thing you should control. If you can’t master your thoughts, you’re in trouble…..stop trying. surrender. – Richard from Texas
Hey. Believe in love again. – Richard from Texas
Sometimes, to lose balance for love is part of living a balanced life. – Ketut, medicine man
If you’re brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting, which can be anything from your house to bitter, old resentments, and set out on a truth-seeking journey, either externally or internally, and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet as a teacher…and if you are prepared, most of all, to forgive some very difficult realities about yourself, then the truth will not be withheld from you. – Liz Gilbert

And so, there you have it. The words speak for themselves and Eat, Pray, Love speaks to the inner truth-seeker in all of us.