My only purpose is to give love and be love.  

This has been my mantra for the past several months. Whenever I have a decision to make, whenever I find myself faced with fear, feeling triggered by a specific situation or worried over whether my life is moving in the “right” direction, I’ll repeat this mantra to myself.

My only purpose is to give love and be love. 

A little over two and a half years ago, I made a commitment to love. I made a commitment to digging deep and decluttering everything in my life that is not aligned with love. It sounds like a lot of work, and it is. It’s a constant, ongoing process. It’s the work of my life.

No, I’m not perfect (nor do I expect I’ll ever be). I still struggle (daily) with fear, judgement, worry — all of it. But I brush myself off, I forgive, and most importantly I keep moving forward because I am deeply, and unwaveringly committed to love.  For me, love = God = enlightenment = peace and happiness. Sounds pretty amazing, right?

Making love a daily practice: Well that sounds simple enough, and it is at times. But sometimes it can actually be quite difficult — like when we’re feeling triggered, for example. It can be easy to lash out when we feel hurt or attacked. But the more we practice giving love the easier it becomes.

So how do we practice? By serving up love like it’s a full time job! By committing to love on a moment to moment basis.

Some suggestions: Be kind. Really listen to people when they’re talking. Look people in the eye. Hug your Trader Joe’s grocer. (I do. And while we’re at it, give genuine hugs —- the kind where you can actually feel your heart connect with another human being’s. None of these one-armed, half-a$$ed hugs. Ain’t nobody got time for that.) Give people the benefit of the doubt. Forgive them when they make mistakes. Forgive them, even when they’ve hurt you. Let go of grudges and past pain. Choose to see only the love that was given, because that is all that is real.

How do we embody love? By stripping away the barriers to love’s presence one by one. A Course in Miracles says, “The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite.” Um, yes please. Gimme some of that.

Whether the Course is your jam or it’s some other spiritual text or practice that lights you up, it all boils down to the same idea: when you strip away your barriers, walls and false identities you become more of who you really are, which is love.

Take time to get to know yourself. Meditate. Work on healing your own wounds. Recognize when you’re being triggered and pause before you react. Purify the thoughts and beliefs that are coming in and out of your mind on a daily basis. Take the necessary steps to become an emotionally mature and responsible human being. (I know, I’m preaching to my choir here. 🙂 ) The more you strip away and become more of who you really are, the more love you can give and the more that love can serve the world.

Did this post strike a chord? I’d love to hear. Leave me a comment below!

xoxo

Kristi