I Choose to Love Because . . .

Contrary to the beliefs of many, we choose how we feel. Other people can’t make us angry or afraid or resentful. Our ability to choose, of course, is greatly influenced by whether we have first been unconditionally loved by others, which fills our emptiness and heals our wounds. With that love, however, we can choose to be loving, and the reasons for making that choice are plentiful.

I choose to love because:

• it is more effective than everything else.
• it makes me happy.
• it contributes to the happiness of others.
• it fills the world with light.
• it pours the waters of life onto the fires of death.
• others—including God—first chose to love me.
• it fills the room with air.
• it eliminates the darkness.
• I bring joy to the hearts of others.
• if I don’t, who will?
• when I do, I see, hear, and think more clearly.
• I like the feeling of being connected to people.
• I like the feeling of being connected to real solutions, not conflict.
• I make far better decisions.
• I don’t like feeling disconnected.
• because the alternative is to feel selfish and miserable.
• I like feeling in control of how I feel.
• it’s the only true way of living.
• not loving is inconsistent with all the power of the universe.
• I tap into the power of all the universe.
• I feel connected to God.
• then I am unafraid.
• I can then let go of all resentment and regret and instead embrace forgiveness and healing.
• I am a child of God.
• life is far too short to live any other way.
• because it makes me tender and gentle, not bitter and hard.
• it frees me of the chains of anger.
• I can see other people so much clearer.
• I can see other people with so much more tenderness.
• it enlarges my soul.
• with that foundation, every other skill and gift I have is magnified.
• only then can I experience the ultimate feeling of joy with unbridled abandon.
• my children really like it.
• it enriches my marriage like nothing else.
• it gives my grandchildren the greatest heritage they will ever receive.
• I can.
• I want to.
• it banishes my fears.
• it diminishes or eliminates the fears of those around me.
• there is no other healing balm on earth or in heaven quite like it.
• it parts the clouds of confusion and clarifies everything touched by the sun.
• it combines with the power of all others who make that choice.
• it creates peace.
• it magnifies the power of the truth.
• it becomes food for my soul.
• it transcends and connects all cultures and languages.
• it is the one way that I—a single soul—can contribute to the peace of the world.
• my choice naturally draws people to an experience they likely would not otherwise have.
• it naturally gives me a real power that I can carry with me everywhere.
• it gives me a solid place where I am little affected by the winds and waves of the world.
• it makes me happy.
• it brings joy to the people around me.
• it changes the world around me, near and far.