This February 14 Affirm the Power of Positive Thinking
By Carol Fisher Linn
“Love gives itself. It is not bought.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Photo Caption: Why not pretend it’s Valentine’s Day every day? Loving Selflessly. What a concept! When we selflessly love people, we accept their flaws and shortcomings more graciously. Selfless love accepts ups and downs are a part of the journey…
Loving Selflessly. What a concept! When we selflessly love people, we accept their flaws and shortcomings more graciously. Selfless love accepts ups and downs are a part of the journey and that the downs are better off when love is there. When we love selflessly, we don’t worry about the outcome or whether we’re giving more than the other person. Instead, the act of loving feels good on its own. Whatever comes back to us is precisely the right amount. Selfless love knows there’s enough love for everyone and the way to get more is to give more.
Need examples? For starters, look to the teachers — Pre-school kids are the best. Or animals. Social media is full of Tic-Tocs or brief video clips of small children loving the only way they know how – unconditionally. We laugh when we click to the little toddler freely giving smooches and hugs or soothing a crying sibling/pal with kisses and pats on the back. There are videos of dogs cuddling their sick siblings, gorillas in the wild kissing and hugging their babies, elephants banding together to rescue a baby elephant or to mourn the loss of a matriarch. We read of people finding lost items and returning them while refusing a reward, or customers leaving large tips to overwhelmed, hard-working waitstaff. Thankfully, aside from all the fake news, political overload and warning of today’s civilization going to hell in a hand basket, love (the verb) survives and likely has in one form or another since the dawning of civilization.
Now, I’m not about to opine that our prehistoric ancestors were into “romance,” but I will suggest that they practiced a communal form of love out of sheer practicality. Babies were conceived by intention, not the results of flirtation. The race had to propagate, or it could easily disappear. Frankly, in those times, the womb was a highly regarded commodity. Marriages might have been arranged to create harmony between tribes or to blend hunter-gather tribes to hunting tribes. Nurturing of children, the elderly and the ill, probably existed for the same reason: survival. Curiously, evidence of burials dating back more than 100,000 years reveal a “reverence” for the deceased as evidenced by the care of the body during internment (red ochre over the remains), grave goods (perhaps to help in the next world?) and remnants of leaves and flowers – sure signs of “love.”
Here’s a thought: Let’s make “Unconditional Love” our mantra for the week.
Love is an emotion, that’s true. But love is also a verb; so let’s celebrate Valentine’s Day by putting love into action. You know there is a power within us just waiting to be expressed in loving kindness. For starters, we can commit to be patient and forgiving with one another, and especially our younger citizens who are trying to find their way in life, or our infirm elderly who are nearing the end of their journey. Let’s remember a simple “thank you” to everyone from the clerk who packs our groceries or suggests the perfect purchase, the waitperson and bartender, the Uber driver, your parent, spouse, and child; give a friendly wave and smile to the driver who stops to let you cross the street.
Listen – with your heart and with your ears. Compliment even the expected or mundane – “you can always be counted on to come through on this task.” Celebrate other’s accomplishments. Remember to acknowledge the little things done for you, or by a very special person who might need to hear love in action with the simple words, “thank you for doing that.” Example: my husband thanks me for doing laundry and ironing his work shirt: “Thank you for making me look good.” Show respect (action word again) to family or community members even if you don’t agree with them. After all, the strongest relationships are built on mutual respect and love. Love encourages and affirms the power of positive thinking.
A final suggestion: show your love by donating blood. Please see article about the Red Cross in this paper. Until next week, stay positive, be safe, and be a happy Valentine. One final suggestion: Why not pretend it’s Valentine’s Day every day?
True love begins when nothing is looked for in return.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French writer (1900-44)