We are all a part of the "Love Cycle."
Sixty (60) per cent of our bodies is water. It’s in each of our cells and in our circulation, but we don’t own that water. We consume it in our food and drink, we lose it through perspiration and elimination.
In school, we studied the Water Cycle. Water evaporates, condenses into clouds, precipitates as snow or rain, freezes, thaws, flows into rivers, lakes and oceans, continuously cycling around the globe. It belongs to no one. It belongs to everyone.
I see ourselves as vessels of love and we are part of the Love Cycle. We receive love from many people throughout our lives — friends, family, teachers, coaches — and it comes in many forms including the random kindness of strangers; those who have come in and out of our lives; from those who have helped and inspired the people who would later help and inspire us; from those who have worked in big and small ways, with or without recognition to create the best of our institutions, clean water, electricity, our roads and bridges, the infrastructure we rely upon each day.
It doesn’t always come unconditionally — it comes in many imperfect and human forms because we are imperfect and human, but still we receive love from infinite sources.
Love is not a finite resource. It is in us to give, and the giving of love does not diminish us but connects us and makes us stronger.
Why are we here? What is the point? Where is the meaning?
To be born; to learn and to forget; to grow and to age; to see, to want, to crave, to pursue, to gain and to lose all we gain; to care, to worry, to suffer, to regret and not to care; to grow ill and to die?
There is one answer for each question. Why are we here? What is the point? Where is the meaning?
To learn to love. To love and be loved.
But we are confused by love.
It can be an idea (that consumes our thoughts and preoccupies our minds); an emotion (that carries us away), or a spiritual experience (THE spiritual experience: the experience of the spirit and the discovery of your true self).
Love the idea or thought can be a concept, obsession or preoccupation. Everyone has a different idea of what love is and we forget that others, including those we love, may have vastly different ideas of just what love is, and our ideas about love can change with experience; they can expand or contract.
Love is also an emotion or a variety of emotions. It can be warm and fuzzy; faithful, full and abiding; passionate and possessive; wanting and craving.
But the big "L," love, is THE spiritual experience – the experience of the spirit; of our deeper, greater self; and of our deepest connection to another. This is the experience of your true self and the true self of another. This is the real thing. This is authentic love: metta, compassion, lovingkindness, lovingawareness, agape.
This is why we are here.
This is the point of it all.
This is the meaning of life.
Without love, we see ourselves as separate and competing in a win-lose world; what benefits others does not benefit you; to give to others takes away from you; to give strength to others diminishes you; we are always incomplete and searching.
Without love, we pursue counterfeit happiness: the illusion of perfection, having everything we want; the delusion of permanence, the futile search for lasting satisfaction.
Without love, all is ultimately empty, and we remain alone.
With love, all is clear. Everything makes sense.
We see ourselves clearly. We see others as they are. The world and life start to make sense.
Without judgment, with understanding and compassion, with complete acceptance, with hope but without expectation, we see beauty in another, in our lives and in ourselves.
We see our lives and every relationship as a gift.
Love creates a “new math”. Don’t use an economic model in your relationships. An accountant would tell you to give if you get a good return on your investment.... or a tax credit.
Money is the currency of economics. Love is the currency of relationships.
You no longer need to keep track. The more you give, the more you get. The less you keep, the more you are free. You give more than you get and you don’t keep track. You win by giving all you have; the winner gives it all.
Being empty of self, you live fully.
At the end of each day and at the end of this life, you don’t want to regret not giving enough or loving enough. It is like leaving Denmark having spent your last Chrona because it is worth nothing when you leave.
Life is lived fully by loving without limit, by giving all you’ve got and holding nothing back.
To experience love is to awaken; to express love is to be fully alive.
We can express love as we serve others: through our intention to do good (and not to harm), to be open to the suffering and the needs of another, and to help where we can; to seize each and every opportunity to make a positive difference; to share our own gifts; to see beauty in another, and bring out the best in them.
Love lifts us up. Our families can open us to connecting, letting go of self-interests and learning to love unconditionally. Loving my children has made me a better person. The love of my parents (who loved all that I was) brought out the best in me.
What I want most for those I love is that they each love themselves the way I love them: that they accept themselves and their lives just as they are, forgive themselves, let go of what they do not need, let go of what holds them back, see the beauty that I see in them, and share their gifts with the world.
Loving your life as it has unfolded is a challenge. There are events and experiences that are unpleasant, regretful and overwhelming: misfortune and trauma, negative situations, difficult relationships, harm we have experienced, harm that we have done, missed opportunities, words left unsaid and acts left undone.
To turn away, hide or fight against our nature and the reality of our world is to give greater power to the very things we push away. They continue to hold us back from fully loving, fully living and finding our true selves.
We can choose to let go, and we are freed to see more clearly: to see beauty, to love unconditionally ourselves, others and our lives.
We are all human and imperfect but still deserving of love, beautiful and able to love.
What I can do in my thoughts, words and actions to benefit another - or to benefit the world - benefits me.
We are all interconnected in the Cycle of Love. When more of us realize our interdependence and connection with the global community and all life on this planet, we will see the positive evolution of humanity and life on Earth.
If you’re not sure if a new symptom warrants a visit to the doctor or you don’t know which screening tests you or your loved ones need, on Thursday, Feb. 29, I’ll be giving a free online talk from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
The topic: making sense of symptoms and screening tests.
I’ll review the screening tests recommended based on gender and age and how to determine which symptoms are normal and when you should see your doctor.
It’s part of the Burnaby Division of Family Practice’s Empowering Patients health education program.
To register, you can email Leona at [email protected] or call 604-259-4450.
