Practicing Love

 

Love takes practice!  So, practice it consciously in every moment you live. Practice love when you butter your bread, as you shop for food and prepare your meals.

Practice love in the words you speak, when you pull the blanket around your tired body and give your mind time to rest. Practice love when standing up for whatever you believe.

Practice love in the now moment and in the moments that await you.

Love is more than an act, it is a way of life. It binds your life to all eternity in the constant movement of humanity. It cannot be known in abstraction. Its splendor is learned and expressed in the precision of our everyday lives.

Practice love with deliberation. Practice it passionately, because it represents your greatest hours and your most profound accomplishment.

From: Kiss Your Life... 365 Reasons to Love Who You Are

Reason: 154 Page: 172

By: Ann Mody Lewis Ph.D.

Commentary:

Love is an art, says Erick Fromm in his book The Art of Loving.  Like any other art, love must be known and practiced. This month we will learn more about love by discussing it.
We can never talk enough about love, because love constitutes life's ultimate purpose.

In all of the circumstances of our lives there must be room for love; because, if we are not loving, love is not believable. In relationship anger, loss, frustration, and communication,
love must have its place. In other words: all human moments can be loving moments, if we are practicing love.

Our understanding of love begins in our relationship with our parents, our first lovers.
The style of our relationship with them is embedded in our subconscious mind, and, if
not understood and healed, will set the course of our love life.

From our crib to our grave, love becomes a process of learning, hurting, adjusting, and ultimately opening up ourselves to life. The more open we become, the more loving we are. The very nature of love is inclusion!  No matter what happens to us in any loving relationship, we are challenged to assimilate life without being discouraged about love.

We know love by being loved. Thousands of songs about love, like Celine Dion's song
Because You Loved Me:

     "You've been my inspiration.
Through the lies you were the truth.
My world is a better place because of you."  

Make love about a person. but love is much greater than any ONE person can be.
Love is the world you see!

February is a short month to discuss this momentous topic, but those of you who want to be LOVERS will read and share your feelings about love. As Amanda Gorman reminded us: light is everywhere and only we can be it!

Topics will include: What is love? Why is love the key to mental well-being? Living without love is dying in life. Loving your life is the mission of love.

Let's talk!

Ann