Unconditional Love

This blog entry is in honor of my first follower - Ratin Chhibber. Thank you Ratin for your comment and for your own thought provoking blog (Reflections of My Shadow)....

"How is it to love unconditionally? ....is it like enjoying the others imperfections because perfections we all enjoy". (Ratin Chhibber) Exactly. And to take it just a little further....unconditional love starts with oneself.

The following is an excerpt from the website http://www.vitalaffirmations.com/unconditional-love.htm: I found this site by chance and it has helped open my mind to how we create our own worlds.

"Unconditional love is loving without limitations, conditions or reservations. It is based on an attitude of complete acceptance which means you decide to love other people - and yourself too, of course - by being happy with them just as they are, without needing to change them in any way, allowing them to grow, to be all that they want to be for themselves, even if this does not include you or fit with your plans."

It says, "if you can truly love and accept yourself, then your life experience has no limits."

My interpretation of this last statement is what I think most of us have the hardest time with. People have a normal tendency to hold their guilt with them and can't forgive themselves or others....for mistakes, betrayals, accidents, wrong choices, etc. I sincerely believe this is the primary cause of all the pain, emotional or physical, that starts occuring in one's life. And, like a single dollar that can grow into many dollars in a bank, such can a single negative thought or feeling festering in a mind/body, grow and grow, also.

I am reading a book called the "Power of Positive Thinking" written by Norman Vincent Peale and will be sharing in a short version (the book is 511 pages) the concepts I'm learning in posts to follow...

The Love Dare....Fireproof your marriage

I've come across a great find this week from an unlikely source. I wasn't particularly surfing the web to find this info, I was simply trying to find some peace about something that has been making me sad and which I have no control over (my brother's 9 year marriage is in crisis mode with two little lives in the middle).

I went to one of my favorite websites to see who I might be able to help that day to cheer me up. (See http://www.wishuponahero.com/ - the caring people on this site are AMAZING) I don't know what made me do it, but I made my own wish....I wished for prayers for my nieces. Out of this wish, which was surprisingly granted with lightning speed and made me feel instantly better, I heard about a movie called "Fireproof". I haven't watched this movie, yet, but I definitely will....and with my husband.

It's a movie about saving a marriage. My marriage is fine, but I don't want to take anything for granted, so I will be taking on the challenge of the Love Dare myself. I told my brother about this movie and he put it in his NetFlix queue so I'm sure he'll get it by this weekend. I went to Borders last night and I saw they have the book "The Love Dare" out. I bought it and am going to mail it to my sister-in-law. I don't know if she will do the 40 day challenge called "the Love Dare", but I hope she does.

"The Love Dare personally leads you through daily devotionals, records your thoughts and experiences, and ends each day daring you to perform a simple act of love for your spouse. This 40-Day journey equips you to melt hardened, separated hearts into an enduring love that can withstand the flames of fear, pride and temptation. The Love Dare book will help you reinforce and enrich your marriage, earn back a love you thought was lost, and hear more about the One who not only designed unconditional, sacrificial love—He illustrated it."

Just found a site where you can purchase the book, if interested in taking the dare, for cheaper than Border's was selling it: http://thelovedarebook.com/.

The Gift Closet: Valentine Blog Party starts here today!

It's almost over but not too late!
The Gift Closet: Valentine Blog Party starts here today!

PAY IT FORWARD

I googled Pay It Forward and came across this really neat site. I wish someone would stumble across my Blog and help share it so more heros can be made. http://www.wishuponahero.com It's amazing how people come together to help each other......even a simple prayer for a stranger can make you feel good.

Learn The 5 Money Lessons For Manifesting Wealth

Become Wealthy By Following These 5 Lessons from Thomas Herold

If you follow the 5 lessons below, your life will change and you will become wealthy.

These lessons are very simple; however, they require your commitment and a change in how you presently deal with money. It requires a change in your current model of thought.

Lesson 1: Decide To Be Wealthy
Make a decision today to be wealthy. Write down this goal, and either pin it on your board or carry the paper with you at all times. Take a look at your goal every day: Today I decide to be wealthy. Your conscious decision to make a choice is the beginning of all your journeys. The moment you make a decision your consciousness will automatically start working on the solution to create that reality.

Lesson 2: Take Responsibility For Your Money
If you don't control your money, your money will control you! Controlling your money simply means that you need to know how much money you have, where you spend it and where it comes from. Take a piece of paper and write these three items down as precisely as possible. Make this list as detailed as you can. Get a feeling of what your money is doing. The entire point of this exercise is to make your money work for you (you control your money)—and not the opposite (your money controls you).

Lesson3: Keep A Portion of Everything You Earn
Wealthy people pay themselves first, and then pay the bills! From time to time you hear stories about celebrities going bankrupt or having to wait tables. What happened? They obviously never saved a portion of their income and put it aside. If they had, they would still be wealthy.Take at least 10% of your income every month and put it aside. Never ever touch this money for anything other than for investment purposed to make this money work for you. Don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Lesson 4: Win In The Margins
Always strive to improve your income and watch your costs. Reduce the money you spend. Do you really need that electric sock dispenser? Drive a more economical car and move into a smaller house with less expensive rent or mortgage. Replace the common belief that consuming for its own sake is a necessary part of your life with something that is more balanced. Accumulating possessions will not make you happy! More stuff reduces your free attention, and you’ll have less attention left to focus on building your wealth.

Lesson 5: Give back
Would you like to live in a society where everybody has more than enough, where everybody is mostly focused on helping and supporting others? I bet you do. If everybody focuses only on themselves, our society would soon starve to death and be split into winners and losers. If everybody focuses on giving back and on contributing to a better society, we would all have more than enough happiness. Peace and abundance would be the common ground. Understand that we are not truly separate from one another; we are all depend on each other. The very things we all need the most—like fresh air, healthy food and loving hearts—are the things we most depend on others. The more we understand that this is a cooperative process and not an individual, separate one, the more we will reap the benefits from it.

Sharing your wealth and time is love made visible.

A little about the Love And Logic Technique by Jim and Charles Fay

Love and Logic Starts with a Hug

by Jim Fay and Charles Fay, Ph.D.

LOVE

It takes a great deal of love to…
· Find the positives in our kids when they act poorly
· Hug them before we ask them about their homework
· Set limits without anger, lectures, or threats
· Hold them accountable for their poor decisions by providing empathy first and consequences second

LOGIC

When we give this special kind of love, a wise type of logic grows in their minds:
When I make poor decisions, it makes my life pretty sad. I wonder how my next decision will affect my life?



For more info go to: http://www.loveandlogic.com