All You Need Is...

Hello sweet reader, I hope this message finds you smiling. I’ve been going on a little journey within this past week by limiting my use of external sources of pleasure to feel good, from food to Facebook to flirting. I’ve had some challenging moments and some beautiful insights, and they have inspired this offering. Thanks for reading

Last night, I was at a friend’s new place, and in her living room, there was an awesome piece of art she had made that creatively displayed the timeless Beatles lyric: “All you need is love.”

So much meaning in those few words. There is no doubt that when we feel our hearts are full of love, the states of joy, peace, and fulfillment are easily accessible. When we live in and from these states, life flows and we have a sense of connectedness and purpose.

And yet, there’s so much more to that simple line and the idea behind it than meets the eye.

For starters, there are a few tricky words in there.

What is love?

Despite the widespread use of this little magic word across all cultures, creeds, and contexts, the answers to this question vary considerably from person to person. Some say God is love; some say love is a feeling; some say it’s a state of being; some say love is complete acceptance of what is; some say it’s an experience that words cannot describe, and on and on it goes.

Perhaps it is all those things.

The more crucial distinction comes in dealing with the word “need.” What exactly do we need love for?

Matahma Gandhi said: “Where there is love, there is life.” Oscar Wilde said: “A life without love is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.” And Tony Robbins says: “Love is the oxygen of the soul.”

Taking these perspectives together, we could say that love is our greatest human and spiritual need. On the most basic level, we need love to feel alive, to be healthy, to have vitality, and to have a sense of well-being. Beyond this, it is through love that we experience our true nature and our deeper connection to the Divine and to each other.

So we need love to survive, and having an abundance of love is the essence of what it means to thrive.

This truth has profoundly powerful implications and leads to the important question of how we meet our need for love.

There are many illusions and common false beliefs that have resulted in a number of pervasive collective tendencies, behaviors, and addictions. At their root, they are all aimed at meeting this fundamental need, and, yet, none of them have hit the mark. In my own experience this past week, I’ve become highly aware of this phenomenon by observing my desire to feel whole and experience love.

What has continued to reveal itself to me is that, ultimately, nothing “out there” will ever make me whole, fill me up, or meet my need for love in a lasting way. What I’m also beginning to see more clearly is that the tendency to look outside of myself—for things that make me feel good and for ways to create that experience of love—is deeply rooted in certain fundamental false beliefs and misperceptions about love. As I have begun to shine a light on those long-held falsehoods, they have begun to loosen their grip, and a new experience rooted in truth has begun to emerge.

Rather than restating those lies about love, allow me to share from my heart what I have discovered about love:

Oh sweet soul, on this day, in this moment, as your heart beats and you breathe life into your body, feel the well of love that is in your heart. Love is your birthright. Love is your true nature. Love is who you are.

You are worthy of love because you are a child of God’s. You were created to experience the overflow of love that lives in your own heart and to share and give of that love to all that you meet.

      Yes, my dear one, if you are alive, then you are worthy of love.

Love and life are one. As you live and breathe, so, too, does love move to you and through you. It is the indescribable essence that connects all living things and beings.

To be love is to honor our true nature. To be love is to be at one with each other. To be love is to celebrate life blissfully.

Most importantly, my beloved, do not seek to find this magical essence and powerful force in the world of doing and things. Love is not hidden in any substance or any acquisition. Love is not a scarce resource nor does its abundant supply to each and every one of you depend on any merit or achievement. The constant flow of love to you and through you is not conditional upon any external circumstance, state, or action.

Oh, my sweet one. Love is all yours. Love is and has always been available to you in abundant measure. Simply look within. Look into your own heart. Feel your true nature and essence as love.

Love is who you are.

And, yes, love is all you need.

So all you need is YOU.

Much love,

Chris

Published by Positively Positive (Aug. 29th, 2013)