I Know What Love Is

We all do, don’t we?

Can y’all do me a favor and scroll all the way to the bottom of this page and then come back up and read? I’m testing a theory shared by Brandon Ellrich in his article Views Vs Reads.

One of the most epically fabulous movies of all time was brought to life for us by none other than Tom Hanks. His role in Forrest Gump was one of the best things since sliced bread, in my humble and completely uniformed opinion. Am I right? (Also, if you think I am not right, feel free to say that, but please don’t be a mean bully.)

The scene where he asks Jenny why she won’t marry him and utters the words I used for the title of this article crushed my heart the first time I watched it, and the scene never fails to hurt me on every repeat watching.

“I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is.”

I was so mad at Jenny for leaving him after she slept with him. Why would she do that?

Except we all know why.

To Forrest, it seemed like she must not love him, but that was far from the truth, wasn’t it?

She loved Forrest very much.

It was herself she couldn’t figure out how to love.

And she didn’t want to take advantage of him.

She understood how damaged she was by her past, and how much ugliness she had been touched by. How much ugliness she had sought out, convinced she didn’t deserve anything better.

Forrest was the only good thing she had ever had in her life, and she didn’t want to set it on fire by messing his life up.

She didn’t want to ruin him.

How many of us can relate to that, whether in relation to ourselves, or those close to us?

We are all affected by our past, and we all have things we need to find a way to heal from.

Some more than others, sure, but we can understand.

How much better would things have been for her if she could have found a way to forgive herself? To love herself? To see the good inside of her that Forrest had always seen?

Look how much it would have changed their story, their lives.

If, by some chance, you have not seen this movie, immediately seek it out and watch it!

Let’s all take this lesson from Jenny and Forrest to heart, eh?

It’s a goal of mine — one that I have not succeeded in just yet — to figure out how to love myself.

While we’re looking for the good in our people, which hopefully we all try to do, let’s keep our eyes open to the good in us as well.

You are a blessing to the world.

And so am I.

Now, we will work toward believing that, shall we?

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