Love Really IS The Answer

We've all heard it at least once in our lives. "Love is the answer". But have you ever considered whether love really is the answer? That is what I'd like to explore here in this post because I came across that phrase again today, and the question stuck with me. Is love really the answer? And what questions does it answer?

First I would like to define what I believe love is. Sure there is romantic love, but that is not what I'm going to explore here. Love is a simple word for a broad spectrum of feelings and experiences, but for the purpose's of this post, the love I'm writing about here is that which frees, allows, accepts, supports, shares, gives, and unites. It is life affirming, empowering, healing, creative, and inspiring. And it is that which is useful and helpful in bringing about the very best for all concerned.

Whenever I ask myself the big questions in life, I always end up with the same answer. Whether it is "What is my purpose in life?", "Why am I here?", or even "Who am I?", the answer is always Love. If I ever want guidance on what to do next, I ask myself "What do I do now?", and the answer is Love. If I find myself in a predicament and wonder "How do I respond to this?", the clearest answer is Love.

Sure there are many other ways to answer these questions, but Love is the grandest of them all. I can not think of anything greater or higher to aim for. I am not saying that I succeed in responding with love to everything that comes up in my life. Often I fall way short of it, but I do keep reminding myself that Love is the ultimate goal. Even if I fail, most of my efforts have been positive to some degree because I strived to love.

So here are some more questions to consider. What is important in your life? What matters at the end of the day? When you look back on your life in the end, what will you have wished you did more of? What do you want for your children? What do you wish your parents would have given you more of? What is the best feeling you have ever experienced? What do you want to give more of? What word comes to mind when you think of your closest friends and family?

Love.

Love really is the answer.

The only question to ask then is:

What would Love do now?

Forgive Yourself

We all have those days when it is hard to look at ourselves in the mirror. For whatever reason, we judge the reflection looking back at us. We hate what we see and turn away. We find things to distract us from our own demeaning self-talk and tend to resist or suppress how we feel so we don't have to deal with it. We don't realize that the simple act of forgiving and accepting ourselves could spare us the pain caused by holding on to self-destructive emotions.

All judgments are a form of resistance. Resistance creates tension, friction, and blockages that lead to pain and suffering. Energy flows freely when there is nothing obstructing it. Judging ourselves is like building a dam that restricts the flow of well being within us. Health and vitality is our natural state if allow our bodies to heal by letting go of the resistance we carry.

Forgiving yourself is the first step to release this resistance. A simple way to do this is to close your eyes and place your hands on your chest over your heart. Allow yourself to take a deep breath and relax for a moment. Now speak to the critical and disapproving part of you that is holding on to your self-judgments and say gently: "I'm sorry. I forgive myself. And now I deeply and completely accept myself."

Forgiving and accepting yourself frees you to experience greater peace and ease. You'll feel yourself lighten up and let go of what you held onto so tightly. Doing so is effortless, and you'll discover that all the effort was in resisting it. Forgiving yourself is letting go and allowing the flow of well being to move through you unrestrained.

So remember the next time you are quick to judge yourself that you can simply let it go and forgive yourself. We all make mistakes. If we didn't, we would never learn and grow. See your challenges as blessings that give you the opportunity to make a new choice to be who you want to be now. We are all doing the best we can in the moment with what we have and know. With each mistake, we gain new knowledge and experience to make a wiser choice. Beating ourselves up about it only strains our progress. Forgiving ourselves frees us up to move ahead.

Most importantly, forgiving yourself is loving yourself. If you aren't loving and accepting yourself, you can't love anyone else in your life fully. You may also notice that in forgiving yourself, you'll find it easier to forgive others you may have held resentments and judgments about. (Hint: Your judgments were never about them anyway... The people in your life are really just reflections of yourself.)

Forgive, Accept, Let Go, Release, Bless, and Love... and you'll be so happy and peaceful. :)

3 Tools to Reconnect by Neale Donald Walsch

One of my favorite authors of all time, Neale Donald Walsch, who was featured in The Secret, who wrote the Conversations with God book series, and is coming out with a new book titled "Happier than God" this summer, offers 3 simple tools for us to connect with others and experience Who We Really Are. (Hint: Love).

Click on this link to watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKhxrwlTW9c

Just Love, Love, Love.

"Happiness equates to your capacity to love, and conversely, all your misery equates to your need to be loved. Just love, love, love... and you'll be so happy, and healthy, and prosperous."
- Lester Levenson (creator of The Sedona Method)

Enough said.

Taking Total Responsibility

I have recently come across a new concept to me. It is one of taking Total Responsibility... not just for yourself, but for everything in your life. As Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len explains to Joe Vitale in their book Zero Limits, "Total responsibility for your life means that everything in your life, simply because it is in your life, is your responsibility. In a literal sense, the entire world is your creation."

Joe Vitale goes on to write "Whew. This is tough to swallow. Being responsible for what I say or do is one thing. Being responsible for what everyone in my life says or does is quite another. Yet, the truth is this: if you take complete responsibility for your life, then everything you see, hear, taste, touch, or in any way experience is your responsibility because it is in your life."

"This means that terrorist activity, the president, the economy - anything you experience and don't like - is up for you to heal. They don't exist, in a manner of speaking, except as projections from inside you. The problem isn't with them, it's with you, and to change them, you have to change you."

Wow. Pretty deep, huh. It makes sense to me though because I believe that ultimately we are all connected, we are all one and the same, and as Neale Donald Walsch beautifully puts it in his book, Conversations with God: "There is only one of us."

So if we are at cause for all things in our life, if we are the creators of everything we experience and everything that comes into our experience, then we have an awesome responsibility - not only to ourselves, but to everyone we are aware of (because ultimately, they are us) - to heal ourselves and the world we create. This gives whole new meaning to a quote I love by Ghandi: "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

Taking total responsibility gives us the power to change anything and everything in our lives that we want to improve. Joe Vitale continues to write: "If you want to improve your life, you have to heal your life. If you want to cure anyone, even a mentally ill criminal, you do it by healing you. I asked Dr. Len how he went about healing himself and his patients. What was he doing exactly?"

Dr. Len explained, "I just kept saying, 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you' over and over again. That's it." As I read more about Dr. Len's work with Ho'oponopono, key phrases to say to yourself to release and heal anything are "Please forgive me. I forgive you. I love you. Thank you. God Bless You."

Joe Vitale: "Turns out that loving yourself is the greatest way to improve yourself, and as you improve yourself, your improve your world. Whenever you want to improve anything in your life, there's only one place to look: inside you. When you look, do it with love."

Well said, Joe.

What would Love do now?

One of my favorite authors, Neale Donald Walsch, who is one of the featured teachers in The Secret, wrote in his book Conversations with God about this question of "What would Love do now?" I've read that book several times, and each time I have come away with even deeper understandings about God, Love, and Life (which are really all the same thing).

When asking myself that question, I have pondered the following:

Love desires the best for all concerned. Love accepts, sets free, lets go, yet holds dear, but stays unattached. Love is gentle and kind. Love smiles. Love heals and encourages. Love sees beauty in all things. Love is easy, feels good, and appreciates. Love laughs and is happy with. Love is playful and trusting. Love allows, cares for, and has faith. Love forgives. Love grows and supports, teaches and is patient. Love is generous and gives freely. Love enjoys and is joyous. Love celebrates, applauds, and roots for someone. Love welcomes openly, invites, and embraces softly. Love relaxes and releases tension. Love creates. Love is living fully. And Love is abundant.

Love is the answer.
Love is the way.

I hope that you'll choose to love today.

What Do You Love?

So I asked myself the question: "What do I love?" after yesterday’s post, which turned into more questions...

What is my bliss? What makes me happy? What makes my heart sing? What do I love to do? What inspires me? What do I find beautiful? What do I think is awesome, exciting, and fun?

Then I started to answer those questions. Here's what I wrote (in no particular order):

Flying, skydiving, paragliding, bungee jumping, snowboarding, riding my motorcycle, ATV riding, racing go-karts, speeding, hiking, walking, sleeping, hot showers, being organized, spending money, Switchfoot, Snow Patrol, CWG, The Secret, Porsche 911 Targa, Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport 4x4 Access Cab, Yamaha Grizzly 700, Lindal Custom Homes, tree houses, nature, clear blue sky days with lots of warm sun, puffy clouds, space, the stars on a clear night, The Universe, diversity of Life, Earth, the seasons, fall leaves, Halloween, Christmas, Holidays, snowmen, Fireworks, parades, festivals, concerts, Going to movies, petting dogs, giving flowers, mountains, lakes, streams, beaches, redwood trees, huge old-growth trees, travel, road trips, sightseeing, Sweets, ice cream, Mighty O doughnuts, Home cooked meals, my girlfriend’s Mom’s cooking, my aunt’s cooking, my grandma’s cooking, Pizza, quesadillas, crab cakes, my uncle’s green bean casserole, PCC, Whole Foods Market, Playing basketball, football, Frisbee, volleyball, Taking pictures, sharing photos, making videos, playing guitar, writing in my journal, writing blog posts, writing poems, writing songs, singing, expanding and editing my websites, talking to my friends, visiting with family, chatting on the Internet, Kindness, Caring, Being Helpful, Inspiring, Sharing, Giving, being generous, Playing, Laughing, Hugs, Kissing and Loving my girlfriend, holding her, dancing with her, walking with her, holding her, looking into her eyes, playing with her, laying with her in the grass, being with her, just doing anything with her…

OK, OK. You get the idea. :)

Anyway, the point of thinking about all this was to get in touch with what feels really good and joyful in my life, and to focus on more of that, instead of things I don’t like or want. That way I’ll more powerfully attract more of what I do want.

So what do you love? Let yourself really get in touch with what’s in your heart. If you do that for just a few moments each day, you’ll be amazed at how many more good things show up in your life!