7 Vital Lessons From a Tragic Love Story.

Some years ago, I watched the movie, "Me Before You."

It's a touching story and it portrays lessons that are key to understanding love and finding it.

There are 7 important lessons we can learn from it, and you’ll see why I think it’s a tragic story in the 6th lesson.

But first, a quick summary of the movie:

Young and quirky Louisa "Lou" Clark moves from one job to the next to help her family make ends meet. Her cheerful attitude is put to the test when she becomes a caregiver for Will Traynor, a wealthy young banker left paralyzed in a wheelchair from an accident two years earlier.

No longer the adventurous soul he once was, the now cynical Will has all but given up. That is until Lou determines to show him life is worth living. As their bond deepens, their lives and hearts change in ways neither one could have imagined.

Now to the 7 lessons:

1. Finding the right person is a gift from God.

Louisa Clark and Will Traynor will never have met each other but of coincidence. Love found them. Couples-to-be rarely know when they will meet themselves.

It’s almost always a chance meeting, like there’s some Invisible Hand who arranged situations and times so that their paths cross.

This should evoke gratitude in us, and make us remember we didn’t find that special person because we’re so great at searching, but rather because we received favor from God.

2. Love finds you doing something:

Louisa didn’t come to Will’s home looking for love, rather she came to do her job, and she was focused on doing her best. It was in this place of diligent service, she fell in love with Will.

Similarly, you don’t need to pause your life because you’re searching for THE ONE, rather, as Adam focused on tending the garden of Eden and in the process received Eve, similarly as we focus on our work and life’s path, God gives us the right person.

3. The right person may not come in the package you expect:

Luoisa and Will were not in the same league, by metrics of social status they were miles apart. Ordinarily, they won't have even given each other as much as a second look, but for the circumstances.

Similarly, sometimes "the One" will not come in the external package you are familiar with or expect, either financially, physically, culturally, socially, etc

If you focus on these external differences, you may miss deeper things that connect you both, for example, beliefs, values, emotional bond or connection, way of reasoning, personality, interests, etc.

4. Be Yourself.

One thing that made Will fall for Louisa was that she was herself. He simply came to fall in love with who she was, and so did she.

The true lover will love you essentially for who you are, not for who they want you to be, or for what you have, what you've achieved, or what they can benefit from you.

5- Love sacrifices:

Lou was willing to bear the inconvenience of caring for a paralyzed spouse for the rest of her life. She was willing to wheel him around, keep him warm, and do all the things he couldn’t do for himself.

6- Love hopes: Louisa hoped, that notwithstanding his paralysis they will be fine. Unfortunately, Will didn't share this hope and took his life.

He couldn’t see beyond his past life and his tragic condition and step into the beautiful new life that awaited him with Louisa.

7- Don’t focus, first, on changing the other person, focus on loving them:

In a moving scene, Louisa told her dad, "I tried so hard (to change his mind), but I failed". Her Dad replied, "you can't change anyone". "What then should I do" asked Louisa. Her dad replied, "love them".

This is powerful. So often we try to change people, that we forget to love them. Before we commit to a person we must ask ourselves, "Can I go on loving this person if there's something in them I dislike that never changes?"

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What are your favorite love stories? Any memorable lessons you learned? Please share in the comments.

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