“The essence of life is to communicate love.” – Yogi Deep Breathe Tea

I used to think love was very black and white. That the word should be reserved strictly for your romantic affairs. There was a little wiggle room to extend this expression to your parents, but maybe don’t overdo it. Then I moved through life, and through experience I recognized that life is far more intricate than black and white. Rather, there is an enormous spectrum to every aspect of living, love included. Had I read the above wisdom on communicating love fifteen or twenty years ago I would have glanced over it with minimal connection. Today though, thanks to many life experiences, I’ve been able to open up my heart. I’ve been able to recognize the spectrum that is love. I’ve been able to recognize that I don’t have to just offer and reserve love for my wife, now child or parents. (Let me interject really quick and say that as I am writing this, I am conjuring an image of The Dude. He’s relaxed, white Russian in hand, bathrobe barely hanging on and he’s offering the simple advice: “Love is the answer, man.”) 

Communicating through love really is the essence of life, and it’s the only way to transcend this mess that we have acquired and created as a society. Part of my morning ritual (if I can make this about me for a moment) is to ask, out loud, that I have the strength to move forward through my day with love and compassion. It wasn’t until I began sitting in the thought of love and how I can take it forward with me throughout the day, how I can offer it to others, that I started to see a change. And you know what? Life got a little easier. And isn’t that really the goal of all of this stuff we practice? To make ourselves better people? To simply make life a little easier (for ourselves and others)? 

I’m not perfect, I stray from the path at times, but there is something, always something that will remind me to get back on the horse that is love and let it guide me, reign free. It’s only when the horse starts drifting course that I need to give a tug of the reigns to pull things back into place. The tug of the reigns is mindfulness and asking permission to have the power, the courage, to move through my day with heart.

If I could offer any sort of a challenge, it is this: try to take a moment each morning a few times this week before you start your day, sitting in silence with your eyes closed and your focus intent. Ask to be guided with love. That’s it.  I am curious how you notice a difference moving forward.