Love is a Verb

When we think about love, we might think about that feeling you get when you first meet someone and you realize that you're really into them. We might associate love with romance or sex. Alternatively, love might lead us to think of our children--a sense of devotion or just that feeling you get when they're sleeping like perfect, adorable angels...

But love is more than hearts and flowers. It's more than cute and warm. Love is not just a feeling. Real love is a verb--it's something you do.

"Doing" Love

Love isn't something you do once--that's what makes it so hard! Love can be in everything you do--your work, your romantic relationships, your relationships with your kids, your relationship with yourself. It's a practice and its presence can be threaded through every word spoken and movement made.

Author of "The Road Less Traveled", Dr. Scott Peck, asserts “Love is the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth... Love is as love does. Love is an act of will -- namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love.”

So, if Love is a verb, and one can choose to Love, to support and nurture personal growth-- and you accept the challenge...would your life look different?

The Act of Love in Everyday Life

Acting with Love means nurturing your self. Promoting the health and wellness of your own self. Making choices that will help you grow. Practicing compassion for the struggles and challenges you face along the way.

Acting with Love means nurturing your intimate relationships. Can you balance Loving your self and another? Promoting the needs and wellness of both partners and the relationship itself? It's easy to agree, but what about in the heat of an argument? You might love your partner, but can you act with Love in the hardest of moments?

Acting with Love means nurturing your kids. Again, sounds like a no-brainer. But what about when your kid tells you they hate you? Or has their 5th meltdown of the day? What does acting with Love look like then? Can we put aside our feelings of rejection, frustration, or anger and stay in the moment, acting with intention in their best interest? In the interest of their personal growth and development?

You might also choose to act with Love toward your neighbors, community, humans, workplace, the work that you put out might be laced in the spirit of Love for others. The thing about Love as a verb, is the more you practice it, the more you feel Love in your heart. Integrity. Consistency. You are no longer reactive, instead, you respond in thoughtful, guided ways--with Love.

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Bringing Love as verb into our lives and the lives of those around us can be something of a new idea in our competitive, individualistic society. And when we grow up in families where our basic emotional needs weren’t met or we have experienced trauma at the hands of an other, our felt need to protect ourselves from further harm can easily get in the way of a desire for or practice of acting in Love. Creating Space Counseling and Wellness can help you to keep Love in mind through the daily stress of life, relationships and healing.

Call today at 856-281-1664 for a free 15 minute phone consultation!