Love is a word we bantered about freely without giving it much consideration. Love can wear many faces of which we are often unaware. Here are just some of the forms love can take. Compassion, friendship, acceptance, brotherhood, romantic love, familial love, love of pets and other animals, consideration, kindness, love of humanity, helping others, generosity, forgiveness, sensitivity to others feelings and needs, creative expression and so on.
We are all familiar with romantic love but unfortunately romantic love, while very enjoyable, often comes with an unspoken desire for our lover to fulfill our needs rather than our just loving unconditionally from the heart. In addition, romantic love is often associated with sexual activity. Many people like to hear they are loved and often during sexual relations, words of love are spoken but they do not come from the heart. They are spoken in order to get our desires fulfilled.
Generosity, providing it is not offered with an expectation of return, is a demonstration of the heart felt love. Whether you are generous to those you know, you donate to charities and worthy causes or you just give a handout to someone on the street, each act of generosity is recorded on our soul record and can bring great rewards both in this and in future lives.
There is no greater expression of love than forgiving someone for any wrong you believe has been done to you. Forgiveness not only breaks the energy chain of anger and fear that binds you together, but brings freedom for both parties.
Friendships are another way of showing our love. What could be better than being supportive or offering your help to a friend in a time of need or at any time? There is nothing like friendships to make us feel we are not alone, that there is someone who cares about us or has our back. Of course friendships are two way streets and we need to be mindful that we must give and as well as receive. If you are the one who is often the giver, you need to practice receiving in order to be in balance.
What greater way can we show our love than by being considerate and sensitive to the needs and feelings of others? When we willingly put aside our own needs and feelings to help another, be it in a time of need or in general, this results in others feeling loved by you and fosters better relationships. When we show consideration and sensitivity to others, people get the sense you really understand them and will appreciate it and want to be close to you.
Love of animals, be they your pets or animals in the wild, shows our concern for those less evolved than us. When we take a pet into our homes, they in return give us unconditional love, if we are the least bit nice to them. Many people find unconditional love a rather rare commodity that is not readily available from those around us. Some people actually prefer pets to people as they never argue with you or make you wrong.
Compassion is a higher expression of love because it does not involved a give and take relationship. When we feel compassion for those we know or even those we don’t, it is demonstrates our understanding and sympathy for wherever a person is on their path. Compassion is the antithesis of judgment. It is an expression of acceptance, not pity.
Creative Expression as a form of love can wear many faces. Perhaps it is in the way someone prepared your favorite dish of you or just the love they put into the food as they prepared it. It can also be demonstrated by the time and attention someone puts into their home and/or garden to create harmony and a peaceful space for others to enjoy. Even the way we dress and present ourselves to the world shows a certain degree of self-love.
Acceptance is another true gift of love. We all seek love and acceptance no matter our age. To get acceptance, we often associate with people of like mind. It becomes more challenging when we are asked to accept those who do not share our beliefs or life style. This is where true acceptance is revealed.
We are seeing much more brotherly love these days as witnessed by those helping the less fortunate or those who have experienced natural disasters. Brotherly love is an expression of our higher nature. It shows our interests are not only for ourselves, close family and friends but the world at large. It indicates our shift to fifth dimensional consciousness.
How does being a more loving person benefit you personally? It makes us feel good inside and brings a feeling of being at peace and in oneness with the world. Aside from the immediate benefits of feeling good inside, it changes your consciousness and helps your soul evolve. We are all subject to the Law of Karma. Whatever we do to others comes back to us in multiples. So it is wise to be conscious of how you want to go through life. There are also the long term karmic bonus points that will go on your soul record and be available to you when you need a miracle. . There is truth in the old saying “What goes around, comes around.”
In addition, during this time of great transition, the world needs more love. Every little bit that any one person contributes, adds to the overall shift in consciousness to make this a loving planet.
Failure to express love in the any of the above forms leaves us feeling empty or unfulfilled. It is probably easier to behave as we always have without giving it much thought. But if we continue to do that, everyone loose out including us.
If you want to know how you are doing in expressing your love, pay attention to people’s reactions and comments. If they are positive and you notice more people want to be around you, you are doing just great. Everyone wants to be loved so showing people your love will not only make you feel good but will bring more love into your life
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