Love Is A Verb
We all know this is true, but it's good to remind yourself of it. Watch enough movies and tv shows and you will start buying into Hollywood's version of love. What is their version? That love is a feeling and that marriage and family are matters of convenience instead of commitment and integrity. What do you do when you aren't "in love" anymore? You love him/her. Choose to love. Love is action, even when the feeling isn't there. Think about the legacy you will pass down for generations if you choose to actively love your spouse and love your children. Make the effort, sacrifice and get your SELF out of the way. After reading this chapter, I have been trying to practice love and my four unique gifts in any conflict situation. Instead of letting my annoyance, anger, etc. be the driving force of my reaction to the conflict, I try to push my pause button. I step back and imagine what I want the outcome to be, what I actually have the ability to control (myself), and to treat the person, not based on their current behavior, but based on the unseen potential in them. I try to imagine my children wearing shirts that say, "Be patient with me. I'm not finished yet." This is very difficult to do. Like exercising muscles, it is actually painful to put your SELF aside. But, it does become easier the more you practice it. And I believe the results are totally worth it!
And thank you to my sister providing St. Patrick's Day fun! We may have been late celebrating it, but she helped us get it done. : )
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