I had someone ask me today how do you become a more loving person. That may seem like an easy question but really it is and it isn’t. For example the deeper points of the question were not only how do you love yourself but also how to love others in a reality that may not always be so receptive to your wanting to project love all over it.
Let’s start with loving yourself. This is a fundamental must before all other types of love. You truly do have to love who and what you are. Even when you aren’t happy with yourself physically or maybe even how you act. You can’t begin to love and appreciate another person if you can’t even do the same for the person you have known your whole life and always will, YOU. If you find it hard to truly love yourself for one reason or another you are in luck. You can change anything you want about yourself. You get to design, build, and shape who you are and how you perceive yourself. Don’t worry about others and what they think. Especially when they aren’t walking in your shoes or looking back from the mirror.
Now let’s assume you have that down pat. You wake up everyday and look in the mirror and love what and who you see. You now feel ready to share and show your love for everything and everyone in the world. Some people are open to and love that you feel that way and express yourself in such a way. Then you run into people that take your love and make it a problem or issue. Almost like you have wronged them or offended them. Now you think to yourself but I am just showing them love how can that take issue with that. Well I’ll tell you why I think that is.
You remember back when you didn’t fully love yourself? You thought you were expressing love to others but now you realize it wasn’t complete and total love because you didn’t embrace you yet. Well now that you are on the other side of the loving you coin things are a bit different. You see your love is now true and complete. The issue is they may not have embraced themselves yet. That illusive loving yourself that you have obtained is still a work in progress for them. So now when you shower them with complete and pure love their own egos are turning and translating it into I’m not good enough or adds fuel to the fires of their own unhappiness.
So back to the original question. How do you love in a world that sometimes isn’t quite ready for full throttle love? My recommendation is similar to how does one meditate. Don’t try to. See, if and when you love yourself and others, you fill a cup and just keep filling it until it’s overflowing. That extra will spill into the world without you dumping it over the heads of others. So love you, love the world, love every breath, cloud, flower, ant, person, good day or bad day. Just be love. Feel good and be happy. What will happen is people will feel it. They will want it. They will ask how to get that and then they too will start the journey to loving themselves. That is how we spread and grow love. So put the spoonfuls of love away. No force feeding here. Let them come and drink form your well. Be inviting and care. The rest will work itself out. That will spread like a slow burning flame. It is then only a matter of time until the whole world is love. Don’t rush it. Just keep it going.
Namaste,
Craig