Thought for the Week
One of the limiting concepts in our Western culture is that we can only love one person in
our lives, usually our spouse or partner. It is true that we should honour and respect our spouse and the promises and commitments we’ve made to them. However we shouldn’t limit our love for just to one person or just to our immediate family.
It is great if we have love within our family but we can also share our love with others. We have friends, neighbours, colleagues, co-workers, team mates, etc. Among these people we can find a spark of love. Something in a person we enjoy or attracts us to them. Something we really like about them. These are great reasons to share our love. This love can be found in actions such as:
Getting a ball to a team mate so they can score.
Helping a colleague finish a project.
Helping with chores.
Being available to a friend.
Sharing some food or cooking.
Being spontaneous in doing a favour.
Love as a spark
If we think of love as a spark within us and we meet someone we like or love. We now have two sparks sharing their love for each other. When they part they are brighter than before they met. The fire of love glows brighter within them. If they meet someone else the fire is radiated to them, thereby brightening the other person’s spark of love.
The love we share should be a pure, unconditional love with no requirements placed on the other person. This love doesn’t say things like “I will love you provided you do this”. This love just loves the other person, in the moment, here and now. This love doesn’t require us to proclaim our love for another. We can share it with people we don’t even know. It shows itself in the actions we take, the things we do, such as:
Picking up a dropped item for someone.
Giving a reassuring smile.
Sharing a small gift, like a sweet.
Listening to someone, with sincerity.
Leaving a place better than we found it.
Do what we can
We need to be careful not to burn ourselves out by doing too much. We should do what we can. We can do one thing a day, for love, for a month or so, until it becomes a habit. Then we can expand to doing two or three things for love, some days. These little gifts of love will brighten us and if we take our time we can get brighter bit by bit without burning ourselves out.
This brightness will show itself as a little more happiness in our lives. We will also begin to see that those around us are a little more positive too. The fire of love is beginning to glow in our hearts.
Let’s give a little love and brighten our world and the worlds of those around us. Let your sparks of love spread like fire.
*Ed Parkinson
One of the limiting concepts in our Western culture is that we can only love one person in
It is great if we have love within our family but we can also share our love with others. We have friends, neighbours, colleagues, co-workers, team mates, etc. Among these people we can find a spark of love. Something in a person we enjoy or attracts us to them. Something we really like about them. These are great reasons to share our love. This love can be found in actions such as:
Getting a ball to a team mate so they can score.
Helping a colleague finish a project.
Helping with chores.
Being available to a friend.
Sharing some food or cooking.
Being spontaneous in doing a favour.
Love as a spark
If we think of love as a spark within us and we meet someone we like or love. We now have two sparks sharing their love for each other. When they part they are brighter than before they met. The fire of love glows brighter within them. If they meet someone else the fire is radiated to them, thereby brightening the other person’s spark of love.
The love we share should be a pure, unconditional love with no requirements placed on the other person. This love doesn’t say things like “I will love you provided you do this”. This love just loves the other person, in the moment, here and now. This love doesn’t require us to proclaim our love for another. We can share it with people we don’t even know. It shows itself in the actions we take, the things we do, such as:
Picking up a dropped item for someone.
Giving a reassuring smile.
Sharing a small gift, like a sweet.
Listening to someone, with sincerity.
Leaving a place better than we found it.
Do what we can
We need to be careful not to burn ourselves out by doing too much. We should do what we can. We can do one thing a day, for love, for a month or so, until it becomes a habit. Then we can expand to doing two or three things for love, some days. These little gifts of love will brighten us and if we take our time we can get brighter bit by bit without burning ourselves out.
This brightness will show itself as a little more happiness in our lives. We will also begin to see that those around us are a little more positive too. The fire of love is beginning to glow in our hearts.
Let’s give a little love and brighten our world and the worlds of those around us. Let your sparks of love spread like fire.
*Ed Parkinson
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