Living in Love

By Bernadette A. Moyer

Living in love is a choice just like living with hatred and anger and any other emotion. We get to decide how we will live and how we will respond to life. Since making the choice to live in love I have been happier and healthier than ever before. I decided that if I couldn’t respond with love, I would not respond at all. This single declaration has truly simplified my life. It feels great. We have the choice to live the way that works best for us.

Living in love isn’t the same as being in love or being married or being in a relationship. It is about keeping our own heart in check. Does my attitude and does my heart and do my choices and responses line up with love? Am I coming from a place of love and a place where God would want me to respond and live from? When I can answer in the affirmative that I am truly living in love then my heart is always in a happy and healthy place.

It isn’t always easy but for me it is always the best way to go. Life will challenge us, people will challenge us, the greatest challenge often comes from those that are not living in love and where we cannot change them, and we certainly can change how we respond to them. Not all relationships are meant to last forever, some come and some go. When we can embrace and release with the same degree of love we are living our most love filled life.

Learning to side-step those that bring chaos and drama, the ones that are suffering and instead of learning only wish to harm others, we can try and help them but unless or until they wish to help themselves our efforts will be futile. We learn. If a person presents themselves to you 99 times and each time that they do they smack you in the face, if you go around them for the 100^th time and they smack you in the face is it their fault or yours? After a while we learn not to go there. Letting that person go and releasing them in love is what living in love is about.

Love begets more love, when our love grows and when it responds most often we find that we have created even more love. The happiest people are not the ones involved in wars and in hatred; they are the ones who have mastered the art of loving. For most of us, our lives won’t be measured by all the material possessions that we attained and own in our lifetime, but rather by the love that we gave away and the love that we received in return.

I don’t have to understand. There are many things that I may not understand. Often it is about how other people choose to live but that is their choice and their life. Take Bruce Jenner who has decided to make a major life altering decision in transitioning from male to female. That isn’t my reality. It isn’t what I am tasked with. His choices are simply that, his.

It is so easy to judge and to spew out all of our dissent if that is what we decide to do. It truly is just as easy to respond with love, if that is what we choose to do. It’s not about forgiveness or any other act it is merely about leading with our hearts, wanting love to reign and for peace to rule. And living in love allows for infinite love and a life that is centered in God’s peace.

Bernadette on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bernadetteamoyer