My favorite author, Emily Giffin, has reminded me, with each one of her books, of life lessons that I had started to lose along the way. I think that the most fair thing to do for you here is to give you brief reasons why each book meant something special to me, and to tell you how, with her carefully crafted stories, Emily was able to help me come back to the most basic of principles we are supposed to cling to in life.
When I read Something Borrowed, on the recommendation of a friend, I was reminded that even the girl who is incredibly unlucky in love gets her prince one day.
With her tale of best friends, Rachel and Darcy, Emily reminded me that nothing in life is ever perfect. You cannot always get what you want. There are consequences to every action, and because of that we must remember to be careful what we wish for. Rachel's anguish and guilt throughout the story, so easily avoidable if she had just spoken up earlier, reminded me to take a chance-- that I would never get what I wanted if just sat idly by, watching things happen around me.
But did I read this story and side with "right"?
I couldn't have. Because in this well-told story, Emily made it clear that we can never really know what is right or wrong. Based on your perspective, your definition of right could be very different from mine. Perspective often makes all the difference in our thoughts and opinions. If we saw something just a little bit differently, it might completely change our reactions or choices in life.
The things that happen to us everyday are a direct relation to the way we handle them. Your reaction to an unexpected catalyst could completely change the course of your life and the lives of those around you. In this story, Rachel's reaction to Dex in law school sent her life on a course that was never quite what she wanted. But her reaction to an unexpected kiss on the night of her birthday party sent it in the completely opposite direction, causing a chain of events that she could never have fully been prepared for.
But it wasn't just Rachel's life that began to spin out of control. Her choices began to effect so many people around her. Rachel didn't want to cause upheaval and grief to so many people she loved, but sometimes that's what happens. We have to accept that with our happiness we can sometimes negatively impact people around us. People we love. People who matter.
Emily Giffin created a world in which right isn't so right and wrong is just plain awful. Life is not black and white. Choices are not clear cut. Actions do not always have equal reactions. We cannot always count on doing the right thing. Because my right could very well be your wrong.
If you have not read Emily Giffin yet, you should. And you should start here, with her first book. I promise you will not be disappointed.
And this fabulous book will be a movie, coming in May, so you should read it before then, so you can see the movie.
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