An Invitation to Great Love!

I’m nearly finished reading perhaps the greatest life-instruction book written yet; as if C.S. Lewis, Walt Disney and Spielberg had collaborated on how to live well (on this planet, not in a cartoon).

Love Does by Bob Goff is can’t-put-it-down invigorating and don’t-want-it-to-end delightful.  In fact, it’s not really a book at all. This is a view into a life of adventure worth dropping everything to pursue. Bob makes us want to live – starting today – with a new kind of energy focused on loving.

But why are Bob’s stories of his life so compelling? Sure, he writes like you’re his best friend telling you a great story.  Lots of them. But they’re compelling also because unlike other interesting life-stories, we want to do what Bob does. We want to hang out with people who live this way.

And something else happens when we read Bob’s stories. (Maybe it’s just list-maker me…) We wonder how he’s been able to pull of this great and imaginative life of relationships and carpe diem. What exactly have I been doing that is more important than living out unabashed kindness and generosity?

We’ve wanted to live this kind of freedom of loving and joyful celebration ever since we were… well …. persuaded out of it by our adulthood.  Bob doesn’t seem to have let becoming an adult replace his imaginative and youthful, daring heart.

What is it? Have I been busy with the laundry? Maybe Bob has someone doing his laundry. Many of us struggle with busyness and the accompanying guilt over not mailing enough hand-written thank you notes or inviting the new family in the neighborhood to dinner. We let convention, obligation, strategic priorities, absorb our time.

Economists call this sort of thing Opportunity Cost. What’s not happening because of the decisions we make each day. Bob gives new meaning to opportunity cost and sends the possibilities floating over our heads like a thousand helium balloons

Funny though. Bob doesn’t think we’re all supposed to be doing what he does.  But he wants us to put down whatever is holding us back go DO love according to what’s inside of us to do. He doesn’t prescribe tactics, or give us 5, or 9, or 21 ways to be more effective in our relationship experiences.  He simply shares, in an irresistible way, episode after episode of a life well lived. Doing love joyfully.

Bob’s inviting us all to discover a secretly incredible life in an ordinary world.

My husband grew up in an environment where adventure was a priority and the unknown path provided the best memories.  He always says “the only things that change about us are the books we read and the people we hang out with.”  I think that means that after reading this book, we need to invite Bob and his family to come hang out.