“Love is like the wind, you can’t see it but you can feel it.”
(Nicholas Sparks)
Love is one of the most powerful of forces on earth.
Love enables people to follow their dreams against all odds. Love gives people that inner-strength to work through terrible disasters. Love is the mighty glue that binds a couple as they build a life together.
I believe love is what gives meaning and purpose to a life.
My philosophy on love is built on these four simple ideas:
- I know its love because it touches my heart, it reaches my inner spirit, and I can feel it
- I look for love everywhere and all the time by paying attention to what I am attracted to
- When I find love, I give it all I have to give
- I work to create my life doing the things I love, with the people I love, in the places I love
There are so many different types of love:
When I think of love, romantic love comes to mind first.
This is a strong and content love with a soul mate. It is a very deep connection that cannot be explained easily. It is a comfort and acceptance I had not experienced until I finally found my beautiful wife. This love is magical.
Another important love is the love of self.
This is the work I do to be strong, healthy, and happy enough to care for my family, others, and myself. Love of self gives me the power to contribute to my community. I express love of self when I am living in the moment and creating my absolute best life by working, learning, exercising, cooking, meditating, thinking, and communing with nature.
Of course, there is the love of others – my family, friends, and pets.
Family. This is the pure love I felt the first time I held a child of my own, as well as the “no matter what” love I feel for my brothers and sister.
Friends. I am lucky to have a few friends whom I love. These are different and richer friendships because, for some reason, we match each other somewhere deep within our hearts. It’s another form of soul mate.
Pets. Pets (especially dogs) give me a kind of love that just feels good. It is hard to find words to express the love of pets, but this 45-second video of an Airman’s joyful reunion with his ‘girl’ sums it up perfectly. Warning: it will make you smile.
There is a love of doing.
When someone says, “I love what I do”, they are expressing the love of doing. I call the things I love doing “my ings.”
I love working, especially when I’m engaged in creative work, producing something that makes a contribution to society, and doing so in connection with my family, friends and community. For me, working includes reading, learning, experimenting and writing about things to improve the health and wellbeing of the world, one person at a time.
I also love playing… this includes exercising, cooking, entertaining, traveling, boating, and paddle boarding. I love what I do!
Finally, there is the love of places.
There are certain places that touch my heart whenever I visit them, or even just think of them. New York City inspires me. The resorts of AMResorts relax me. Sedona, Arizona has a very special place in my heart.
And I love the lake house my wife and I purchased last summer. We have remodeled it into our dream home that is designed for dual purposes. First, it is a comfortable home for us to live and raise our children. Second, it is our place for celebrating life and love with our family and friends.
Love is a powerful force indeed. Love is many things. Love is different for everyone, and it changes over one’s lifetime.
Love can sometimes feel very complicated, but my philosophy on love is quite simple. I believe love is what gives meaning and purpose to my life – so, for as long as I live, I will keep trying to create a life doing the things I love, with the people I love, in the places I love.
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