The Power of Love

Last night, I gazed at a painting of a heart I own.  The red of the heart is juxtaposed with its green background  and it simply feels like love.  It sits atop two other heart paintings by the same artist and this trio forms a quasi-triptych.  They
are in my bedroom so I happily wake up to them every morning.  What peaked my interest on this one occasion is that as I looked at the piece of art, I kept hearing Huey Lewis' song, The Power of Love, in my head.  Over and over again the words from the title replayed themselves inside the depths of my brain and I began to tap my toes and do a little dance.  It didn't take long for me to realize that these words were a message from The Universe—and the title for this month's newsletter was born.

I recently had the opportunity to test the power of love in a real life application. I mean we all know that love is who we are at the core of our beings, but life has a funny way of making us perceive things from the place of ego just the same. We feel wronged by another person's actions and since we are "right", we want nothing to do with being nice to them. Unfortunately, two wrongs most definitely do not make a right. When we buy into the script of the malcontent, we are simply adding fuel to the fire. Instead of creating the harmonious life we desire, we attract what we ourselves put out there—and the torrential cycle repeats itself. And believe me that's not such a fun thing. 

I know because for several months my day job had been dubbed the "Cold War" where two warring factions sprung up overnight. One side stood together snickering about us and we retaliated by doing the same to them. Nerves were constantly rattled and you could cut the tension with a plugged-in chainsaw. It was affecting our moods and it was affecting the business too.

After dealing with the animosity for a seemingly interminable amount of time, I finally had enough. Something had to change and that something was me. That's when a few of us decided we were not going to play this game anymore. It was Albert Einstein who quipped that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  And he was right. It was time to wave the white flag and make a peace offering.

With that in mind, I put my thinking cap on to decide what I should do. Almost instantly, I had the answer. I arrived to work early the next day to start my plan. I wrapped green sheer fabric around a potted plant which was held together by a gold bow.  I placed this plant on the counter for one person. For the other, I used the same material to wrap some freshly cut rosemary from my garden. For each, I added a standing card with their respective name followed by a cheery 'Happy Thanksgiving'. That was it. I didn't even sign the cards, but the nicely wrapped greenery was the first thing each of them noticed when they entered the room. 

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I at least hoped the gossiping would come to a halt. Needless to say, I was nicely surprised when it seemed as though the ill feelings of the past several months were washed away and we were all finally cleansed from the harm we were doing to each other. It was as though we collectively breathed out a sigh of relief and moved onto bigger and better things. And the workday was actually fun! We talked. We laughed. We cavorted. We were back to normal! This wasn't just about me either. This simple act cleared the air for all of us even on the following shift with different people working. 

So, does the power of love work? Of course it does! This is not only true for individuals, but for countries, as well. It was in 1914, during the first World War, when a two-day cease fire between the American and German camps took place for Christmas. Enemy soldiers who didn't speak their rival's language became fast friends. They sang songs, played soccer with one another and even exchanged gifts of whatever they had on them. This heartwarming story is indeed true. Whether it started from the singing of Silent Night or if this part of the story is the stuff made from legend, it doesn't really matter. What is important is that so-called enemy soldiers were able to show their inner dove during the heat of a battle. Since that is the case, then imagine what we all could do if during our own battles we stopped, took a breath and jumped into the other person's shoes for a moment. The doors of our shifting perception would be swung open for all to see, while the end result would be happiness all around.

So, for this holiday season send your prayers around the world—from people fighting in another nation, to your neighbor who plays their music too loudly. We are all in this together and each of our individual attitudes makes a difference for the whole. 

...And so it is!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Thank you for reading and Namate! (The Light in me recognizes the Light in you!)

**This blog entry comes from my monthly e-Newsletter. If you would like to receive an inspirational story in your inbox every month, please sign up at www.LisaTunney.com.