LOVE
Call me a hippy, but seems to me Love is where it's all at. Love is the answer to every puzzling question. Love is THE universal connection of all human beings.
"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses ; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it." Martin Luther King.
There are many ways we can define Love, but to me none of them truly would do the concept justice. Most significantly is Love directed to another human being....romantic love and platonic love. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to have experienced either can attest to the feelings, but probably have vastly different descriptions of the phenomenon. I know that when I feel love...really feel love (and not just say the words), I am smiling, I feel physically warm, my heart speeds up, sometimes I might hold my breath for a few seconds - I see beauty and Light in the person to whom my Love is directed and I am undoubtedly in awe of the sight and touch of that person. At times the feeling of Love brings me to the verge of tears. I can see nothing but the Love and it permeates to my perception of all else. Time stands still. It is wonderous, it is beautiful and it is a feeling I strive to achieve every day.
But aside from those feelings, most of which represent physical manifestations of romantic Love, or being "in love", what about the every day Love that sustains our happiness, our relationships, and life in general? The kind of Love that allows you to forgive, the kind of Love that allows you to view another individual (friend, family, partner OR stranger) without judgment, even if they have taken action that has caused you pain, or posses obvious flaws in character? How do you describe THAT feeling?
To me Love (romantic or platonic) is the ultimate feeling of elation, forgiveness, happiness, respect, peace, serenity and safety. The experience of Love can be spiritual, physical or both. When most speak of Love they are referring to romantic Love, or familial Love, but to me it's more. Love is a higher awareness, residing with our spiritual self and capable of bringing about infinite joy, peace and happiness to those who can successfully harness its power. When one is able to truly harness the power of Love and apply that power, that achieved state of being represents true reality and everyone around them benefits. (Ok, so admittedly I do have Luther Vandross lyrics invading my consciousness after that...) But really, it may sound hokey, corny, cliche or whatever, but isn't it true? Isn't it true that when you are able to see another person with Love in your heart, it makes you more open, forgiving, generous, etc., benefiting not only yourself, but everyone else around you? There is a definite change in your affect, and either consciously or not, you emit happiness.
Granted, achieving that higher Love isn't easy, and I fail at least once a day (ok, maybe more like once an hour) achieving true reality by applying Love to a given situation. Sometimes I realize my mistake and sometimes it goes unnoticed. Those times when I recognize the mistake I try to turn it around and say "how could I have applied Love to this situation and changed the outcome for all?" Other times, even if I recognize the mistake, my ego commands that I justify it by assigning external blame - resulting in an EPIC FAIL (to use a term my teenage daughters have been throwing around lately).
My goal every day is to apply Love more often than I was able to the day, hour or moment before.
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