Love
is Not the Destination, It is the Journey
By: Natalie R.
Manor, CEO
When I feel love I am
safe, warm, beautiful, powerful, and peaceful. Love
is the place where I am my brightest self. My thoughts are
clear and confident. No harm can come to me. The rhythm
of life is easy. “All is well in my world”, as Louise
Hay would say.
Each and every one of us
has experienced love, if only for a moment. We can also
recognize love easily when we observe a baby giggling
or a child with a puppy. Love is free, sweet and darn
powerful.
If love is so very easy
and instantaneous, where is it most of the time?
The newspapers never speak
of love. The news media barely broadcasts love stories except
for maybe Valentine’s Day. If I sang you a love song,
you would probably be embarrassed and shhhh me. And
yet:
-
We move for love
-
We die for love
-
We cry for love
-
We admire for love
-
We long for love
-
We fight for love
I had lunch with a new
gentlemen friend who told me the loveliest story about
a couple named Peter and Mary. Actually, they are known
in their community as Saint Peter and Saint Mary because
of their love for each other. They have been married
for 70+ years and have seven children. They are deeply
in love with each other and anyone who sees them together
immediately recognizes the power of their love.
My new friend, Michael,
told me that he has never experienced a love like Peter
and Mary’s and, at this stage in his life, doesn’t want
to settle for less than that kind of powerful love.
My comment to Michael was
that Peter and Mary loved each other “anyway.” Meaning
that, even though neither of them are perfect and their
70+ years of marriage haven’t been perfect, they love
each other in spite of any flaws or foibles. Their commitment
is to the power of love. Michael says Peter and Mary
are lucky. I think they are brilliant to have recognized
the power of their love and then committed to being
in love “anyway.”
In my note to you, I talked
about my time on the couch in front of the fire with
my puppy and how I mentally reviewed the research I’ve
done over the last six weeks about the idea of love
as a success philosophy and the ultimate tool for creating
what you want.
If you agree that love
is powerful and that loving or being loved creates safety,
then isn’t it fair to say that when you are your most
successful you are in the company of love?
In addition, love has come
to all of us in some form or another and it feels good…really
good, even if only for that moment. Love is something
that is impossible to define and equally impossible
to live without. You know when you don’t love. You know
when you are not loved. You know when love is missing.
You know when love is present.
Doesn’t it seem strange
that we do not spend more time in love, with love, experiencing
love, seeking love, providing love, or feeling love?
In my experience the word
“love” isn’t welcome in our vocabulary as business people.
I’ve never heard a CEO say:
“Well let’s just love
that prospect with all we have and see where it takes
us.”
or
“Why
don’t we try lovingly telling our new Executive VP so
he/she knows that
we
are confident in their ability to get the job done.”
Do you remember your
first love? The emotion of it and the depth of it and
the wonder of it? Of course you do. Weren’t you the most
powerful creature on earth? I was. His name was James
Henderson in the fourth grade and he wore a leather
jacket. When I would think of him during class, I would
imagine myself as smart and funny and terribly
interesting so he would notice me. I was the embodiment
of the total package of a powerful human. Yes I was!
Today I struggle to see
love anywhere. Our world. Economy. Families. Employment
or lack thereof. Housing. Investments. Traffic. Homelessness.
What would love do in these
situations? I keep hearing the song “All We Need Is
Love.” I think what if that is true and we all just
missed it.
So maybe I am pathetically
naïve. However, what if love is all we need?
© 2001-2010 Natalie Manor & Associates.
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Natalie R. Manor, CEO is an author,
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