Eleven Minutes

The following except taken from the book Eleven Minutes touched me deeply. It captures the essence to truly love someone – to not expect anything in return, to appreciate what may just be a moment of sharing love with another, and being content for the rest of your life because that moment lives in you forever. It reminds us that we cannot rush love as we do in our everyday rush of life, and that love can be determined by our souls and perhaps our fate. Here’s to embracing the present…

From Maria’s diary ( taken from Paulo Coelho’s book, Eleven Minutes)

I’ve met a man and fallen in love with him.I allowed myself to fall in love for one simple reason: I’m not expecting anything to come of it. I know that, in three month’s time, I’ll be far away and he’ll be just a memory, but I couldn’t stand living without loving any longer; I had reached my limit.

I’m writing a story for Ralf Hart – that’s his name. I’m not sure he’ll come back to the club where I work, but, for the first time in my life, that doesn’t matter. It’s enough just to love him, to be with him in my thought and to color this lovely city with his steps, his words, his love. When I leave this country, it will have a face and a name and the memory of a fireplace. Everything else I experienced here, all the difficulties I had to overcome, will be nothing compared to that memory.

I would like to do for him what he did for me. I’ve been thinking about it a lot,and I realise that I didn’t go into that cafe by chance; really important meetings are planned by the souls long before the bodies see each other. Generally speaking, these meetings occur when we reach a limit. These meetings are waiting for us, but more often than not, we avoid them from happening. If we are desperate, though, if we have nothing to lose, or if we are full of enthusiasm for life, then the unknown reveals itself, and our universe changes direction.

Everyone knows how to love, because we are all born with that gift. some people have a natural talent for it, but the majority of us have to re-learn, to remember how to love,and everyone, without exception, needs to burn on the bonfire of past emotions, to relive certain joys and griefs, certain ups and downs, untill they can see the connecting thread that exists behind each new encounter, because there is a connecting thread.