All There Is, Is Love
I was thinking about how we crave love. As human beings, love is integral to our health and survival as newborns and children. Hardwired into our psyches, the lack of holding and cuddling a baby can lead to failure to thrive and a host of other psychological problems, if the child survives the neglect. We need closeness, especially as children, to develop into well-balanced adults capable of empathy and giving and receiving love.
But love does a lot more than that. It is the “most potent catalyst for transformation and healing,” says Matt Kahn, author of the book I’m still slowly reading and savoring, Whatever Arises, Love That. And I know in my bones that he’s right. No amount of following rules of behavior can heal the heart. It may change the way we look on the outside, but not the heart. Only love touches the heart and can cause change in the soul.
Let Love Be Your Guide
When I think about love, and write about it, I can feel it surrounding me. I can feel it inside my heart and a smile appears on my lips. Love. It’s an embracing, no-holds-barred, wild and uncontrollable force, capable of making change in the body, the mind and the spirit. It’s the greatest force in the universe.
This Christmas, let love be your guide; love for everyone, including yourself. Speak and act from your heart and lay down the burdens of being right, smart and perfect. Give smiles extravagantly and hugs effusively. And see what happens.