I Am Love

Recently I read a quote by Neale Donald Walsch on the website Alernate Economy and I had such a positive emotional reaction to it, I wanted to share it with you.

….that love is not what you want, it is what you are. It is very important to not get these two confused. If you think that love is what you want, you will go searching all over the place. If you think love is what you are, you will go sharing it all over the place. The second approach will cause you to find what the searching will never reveal..

Upon reading this quote I instantly was filled with joy and love. I copied it into a computer file to see if the quote would still spark the same strong reaction in the days that followed – and it did! So I began thinking,  “Why does this quote make me feel so happy and overjoyed?” And I realized that the thought that love is not what I want but what I am is liberating.  It frees me from all those thoughts that can make me feel rejected or not loved in any situation that I may encounter.

I know that love can be complicated and this may be too big of a leap for some people to make in certain relationships in their lives.  So, let’s explore it gently and see what is possible. Lets look at some situations that can be hurtful in our lives but not devastating. For instance, maybe a group of people did not invite you out with them for an evening, maybe someone removed you as a friend on facebook, maybe a friend forgot to call you when you were going through a hard time or maybe a relative did not show up for holiday dinner. When we react to these situations by feeling not cared for and searching for confirmation of love we can end up feeling so lonely, empty and even angry. Our focus is all about what we are not getting from other people and we tend to believe that they are the reason why we are disappointed and unhappy at times in our lives.

Yet when we turn it around and see ourselves as love the emptiness goes away. Our hearts need not search for what we are not getting because we are filled with how much love we have to give. For me, it makes me want to create my own group to go out for dinner with and connect with new friends on Facebook. I begin with not seeing what someone may have done wrong to me but instead seeing what I can do to spread more love and understanding. It also makes me want to invite the people I love to a holiday dinner regardless of whether they choose to come. This way I am not looking for anyone to give me what I need because I realize that it already exists within me.  I feel less needy, more giving, and less rattled by how other people are behaving.

Interestingly, with my focus more on the love that I give out all day, I feel that I have been getting more love in return.

I would truly like to know how this quote makes you feel.  Maybe write me back and let me know.