What Would Love Do?
I received a really disturbing phone call recently that said the caller’s marriage was finished.
I began thinking about my own life and how it was for me when I was about to walk out on my marriage. I think of some of the places where I find myself struggling now, sometimes stressed or even stuck. I look at the justifications I make, hoping people will not think less of me. I see that instead of asking ‘What would love do?’ I’m often asking other, less inspiring questions such as, ‘What’s wrong with them?’ or ‘How could they do that to the kids at such a vulnerable age?’ or other versions of non- supportive questions. I was reminded about some of the changes I needed to make in my life to recover from cancer as well as save my marriage. I needed to shift from selfishness and self-pity to ‘being’ a love magnet. I needed to shift the energy field of my life from living from the outside into living from the inside out.
What if we did actually ask ourselves when these most challenging moments happen, ‘What would love do?’ I am sure answering that question would dramatically alter, not only how we relate to those people and circumstances, but what we did and said and, ultimately, how we all felt.
It seems everything I teach and write about is – ‘Who am I ‘being’?’ ‘Am I living as a life enricher?’ ‘Am I ‘Being’ ‘authentic’’, ‘Am I living as my word?’ ‘Am I living in Love?’ The New Testament says love is the foundation of life, the most powerful force in the universe. Many people seem to think living the law of love is giving away your power – but it actually is living in a higher power!
As we interact with the people in our lives, and even strangers on the street or upset drivers in traffic, what if we asked ‘What would love do’? The answer to that question determines if we react or respond.
Stephen Covey said in an interview that people on their death beds never said they wished they had spent more time in the office, but rather had spent more time in meaningful relationships and making greater contributions. He suggested we script our own epitaph – the dash between the birth date and the death date and ask ‘What do I want to be remembered for?’ As we contemplate our own epitaph, and thus establish our life purpose, perhaps that would be a good foundational question to contemplate: ‘What would love do?
Love has all the answers, makes no demands. Love is kind — it doesn’t remember the wrongs. Love leads us to the truth and gives us a higher way of living. When I live in love I can ask authentically ‘Who am I being?’ and not be afraid or embarrassed by the answer.
