What would love do?

I've been thinking about love recently. Actually I think about love a lot of the time. I don't mean just romantic love, but all the various expressions of love. I think about how love shows up in life, work, relationships and experiences.

Love is a decision. Rumi, one of the most revered Persian poets from the 13th century expressed his deep sentiments on love through his writing. One of my favorites from him is "Love risks everything, and asks for nothing". Beautiful!

Some days love seems easy and feels natural. When we are greeted with kindness, respect and help from others, it is easy to love. Yet most days include encounters with people and situations that do not make loving easy at all.  Is it possible to love in every situation?  Is it possible to love the way Rumi describes, to love fully and ask for nothing in return?

I have been working with my life coach, Paula, for several years, and she has supported me through some of the most significant changes in my life.  We have worked together on my goals and I have achieved much in my time working with her.  But what has been more important than any goal has been the internal work, the changes within my mind, heart and soul. I am talking about a deeper transformation that has happened within, which goes way beyond the external success in life.  The most powerful coaching for me has centered around shifting my interior, which then has a huge effect on everything else in my life.  One of the intentions I worked on with Paula was to love well.  I wanted to understand how to love purely, authentically, boldly and unselfishly. We spent time in our coaching sessions exploring love, what it meant, why it was important, what was holding me back from loving and meditating on it in every way. A mantra came out of our coaching session one day and it is one I took away as a reminder of who I want to be.  The phrase is "what would love do"?

What would love do?  This is a powerful question.  If I want to be love, and therefore love is personified, what would love do?  When deciding how to respond to situations and people, I have a ton of choices. We all do!  I don't always know what to do, but this question points me toward the answer and a response that puts me in alignment with who I want to be.  What would love do in this situation?

There are so many experiences I have had with people who have not loved me well. If I asked you to tell me how you have been wronged in your life, you could easily recall small and horrific things people have done to you over the years. We could all write an entire book of experiences that would describe how we have been hurt, manipulated, cheated, lied to, abused, mistreated, abandoned, and violated in all kinds of ways. I feel certain that if you told me your story, that is, the truth of what you have experienced in life, I would weep with you. Our hurts warrant weeping. There is a time and a place for weeping, but love is always an available choice.

"Put on love."  This is a phrase that was written by Paul, the brilliant and famous follower of Jesus, whose writings are incredibly profound.  Paul describes the act of putting on love, like a garment.  It is like getting dressed each day.  We choose what we wear and we can put on love, metaphorically, along with our other clothing as we prepare for what the day may bring.

What would love do?  Love is action. I have learned so much about love through the kindness, generosity and loyalty of others. Love was a card with words of hope from a friend. Love was a ride from the airport after a long trip. Love was a surprise party to celebrate my newfound freedom, following a destructive relationship. People have been love to me in so many kind, generous and humbling ways.

Love is more than kindness, compassion and generosity.  Love is truth and justice. Love is also fierce, strong, and bold.  Sometimes love includes war. It is about protecting from harm, and fighting for justice. I have learned about this kind of love too. I saw what it was to rescue girls from brothels, to free families enslaved for generations, to remove a child from an abusive parent and hold the violators accountable for their destructive behavior. Love is protection.

I have just begun to uncover what it means to love.  I want to be love, in every way.  What does love look like today?

I want to BE love. This is the highest calling.