murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood

The fourth thing I have to say is that you have been such a great
source of strength for Naoko that even if you no longer have the
feelings of a lover towards her, there is still a lot you can do for her.
So don't brood over everything in that super-serious way of yours. All
of us (by which I mean all of us, both normal and not-so-normal) are
imperfect human beings living in an imperfect world. We don't live
with the mechanical precision of a bank account or by measuring all
our lines and angles with rulers and protractors. Am I right?
My own personal feeling is that Midori sounds like a great girl. I
understand just reading your letter why you would be drawn to her.
And I understand, too, why you would also be drawn to Naoko.
There's nothing the least bit sinful about it. Things like that happen all
the time in this great big world of ours. It's like taking a boat out on a
beautiful lake on a beautiful day and thinking both the sky and the
lake are beautiful. So stop eating yourself up. Things will go where
they're supposed to go if you just let them take their natural course.
Despite your best efforts, people are going to be hurt when it's time for
them to be hurt. Life is like that. I know I sound like I'm preaching
from a pulpit, but it's about time you learned to live like this. You try
too hard to make life fit your way of doing things. If you don't want to
spend time in an insane asylum, you have to open up a little more and
let yourself go with life's natural flow. I'm just a powerless and
imperfect woman, but still there are times when I think to myself how
wonderful life can be! Believe me, it's true! So stop what you're doing
this minute and get happy. Work at making yourself happy!
Needless to say, I do feel sorry that you and Naoko could not see
things through to a happy ending. But who can say what's best? That's
why you need to grab whatever chance you have of happiness where
you find it, and not worry about other people too much. My
experience tells me that we get no more than two or three such
chances in a lifetime, and if we let them go, we regret it for the rest of
our lives.
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