As human beings we all need love, but we rarely talk about what it means to us and how it works. That is why I appreciate how Brene Brown explores what it is in her book “The Gifts of Imperfection”
It took her decades of interviews and research to come up with this definition:
Love
“Love is not something we give or get; it is something that we nurture and grow, a connection that can only be cultivated between two people when it exists within each one of them – we can only love others as much as we love ourselves.
Shame, blame, disrespect, betrayal, and the withholding of affection damage the roots from which love grows. Love can only survive these injuries if they are acknowledged and healed.”
Yet … how many times do we think of love in terms of giving and taking?
How many times have we let ourselves down by failing to nourish and cultivate it?
How can we expect to love an other fully when we cannot love ourselves?
Love is an active verb. There is a profound difference between professing love and practicing it.
Practice love from the heart of your being.
Practice love towards yourself by learning to trust yourself and treating yourself with respect.
Practice being kind and affectionate towards yourself.
Practice love towards an other by learning to trust and treating them with respect.
Practice being kind and affectionate every day.
❤️
At the moment, I am being blocked from many WP posts, so I can’t access the rest
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Its frustrating when the technology we rely on goes array! May your connections free up again soon
Derrick!
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Thanks, Val
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That’s interesting Derrick – I have also had some trouble with being ‘blocked’. Seems to disappear the next day or when I next log on to my computer.
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Thanks, Vicki. Wish me luck
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Sure do (wish you luck).
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Happy Easter, Val
john
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Beautiful, Val! Happy Easter. xo
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Thank you Jill. Happy Easter to you 💛
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Lovely sentiment here, Val. 💕
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Thank you Van. 💕
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Very inspirational. Have a great weekend!
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Thank you Kate. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend in this Spring weather ☀️
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“And still, after all this time,
The sun never says to the earth,
“You owe Me.”
Look what happens with
A love like that,
It lights the Whole Sky.”
― Hāfez
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One of my Favorites 😃
Thank you Nancy 💛
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Good inspiration for us,Val.
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Thanks so much Kim 💛
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Wise words! Have a great weekend, Val. 🙂
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Thank you Eliza. I hope you are enjoying yours too. ☀️
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Yes, I am, thanks!
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BEautiful words! Beautiful loving action. Thank you VAl. ❤
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Ahh yes. Thank you for putting your love into practice Louise 💛
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Thanks for the inspiration Val! My sister recently gave me that book, I haven’t started reading it yet, but I know it’s gonna be a good one. 🙂
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It really is good Julie. Each chapter has som much inspiration.
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Let me perform an act of love, Val, which is to wish you and yours a very happy Easter.
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Thank you Raj for sharing the love and including me in your practice. May I reciprocate and wish you a wonderful weekend 💛
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“Practice love from the heart of your being.” A wonderful, wise message. Happy Easter, Val.
Peace
Mary
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Thank you Mary for sharing your loving heart. Happy Easter to you. ☀️
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As I have said on numerous occasions, and it wouldn’t surprise me to know that it has been said by me in this place, it all comes down to relationships. And underpinning those relationships with others is the relationship with our self. Learnt that from a very wise person many years ago.
That is at the heart of, “we can only love others as much as we love ourselves.”
On first reading it could come across as sicophantic (sp?) but if one thinks of loving oneself as a product of our clearer self-awareness then that can sit more comfortably on our shoulders.
Brene Brown’s book seems like a book to read!
Well done, Val.
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Thank you Paul. I knew that this would really resonate with you. Your practice of loving is wonderful to behold 💛
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I was taught it by our dogs! 😉
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Yes, how can we truly love another if we don’t first love ourselves? Sadly, I’ve known people who never grasp this concept.
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Working it Val…
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Good stuff 💐
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Yes! 💗
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Indeed 🌷. Thank you Helen 🐥🐰🐣
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I love this, Val. “Love is an active verb.” What a line. I wrote a whole passage in one of my books about the “practice.” That to move beyond “practice” is to say that there is nothing worthy of our effort and devotion. All of life is practice. 🙂
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Happy Easter Val. If only love could be the way for everyone the world would be a much safer and happier place. Practising love daily brings hope.
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I agree Marje! Enjoy the long weekend and more time to appreciate and love 💛
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:)))
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It is probably the most beautiful and rewarding thing one can practice!
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Ahh yes indeed Suzi ❤️
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