Throughout your day, meditate on the things that you love.
By Patrick Kelly
Love. There are many definitions for the word. In most religions, it is God and everything God does. For many devoted to humanity and all existence, love is the one true religion.
For many others, love is that indescribable feeling we have for each other, nature, the creatures, our children and, ultimately, for ourselves; a feeling that holds no limits or expectations on one another and all that exists around us. Many people say that they are in love with this person or that thing, until expectations are not met or conditions change the parameters or the rules that one uses to define love. Those feelings are not necessarily love. You don’t fall in and out of love, that is something else. For the present minded, love is unconditional, never-ending and the essence of all that is. It is that missing essential link to fill the woes of humanity.
The young person went to their mother and father and proclaimed, “I have found the person of my dreams, the one I love above and before all others. I am sure of it, this is the one.” The wise parents understood that their child’s love was real, at least for the child. We often love from where we are on our journey, only to find love changes. The young person came to their mother and father and said, “Woe is me, I have lost my love for this person, I expected this and they turned out to be that. I don’t love them anymore.” The father and mother comforted their child and explained, “You love your dog and your cat, the flowers and the trees, and you love those things that you expect nothing from.” Expectation, rules and conditions are not love. Love is something else.
A simple meditation. Here and there, throughout your day, when it comes to your mind, or not, meditate on the things that you love. Make yourself aware of those things that you say you love, that are based on circumstances, expectations and conditions. Compare that love with the love you have for things beyond those limits. That love that you feel beyond words, beyond understanding. Make a note to yourself, the difference between true love and the love you felt before. It’s a new day. ••
For more on this topic and meditation practices, visit wakingupwithpatrick.com
