I’ve always loved this quote. It’s certainly a way of being to live up to and try to embody.
"Dance like nobody’s watching; love like you’ve never been hurt. Sing like nobody’s listening; live like it’s heaven on earth."
~ Mark Twain
It’s really about giving it your all and not caring or worrying about what anybody thinks. Who cares if you’re tone deaf if you love to sing. Sing! There’s an Italian fellow who sings opera while he walks around my neighbourhood.
Life has highs and lows and in-betweens. If you want to experience love, you have to risk being hurt. But so does the other person, which we sometimes forget when we’re focused on ourselves.
Bryon Katie’s books – “Loving What Is” and “I Need Your Love – Is That True?” – focus on separating a situation from the stories and meaning we attach to the situation. If you’ve been hurt before, the exercises in her books may be helpful.