When we hear the word love each of us has an image that pops into our heads. The discovery that love has so many aspects is often a surprise to us.
Types of love.
Love may first seem to us to be only the romantic version. Two people who have that indefinable attraction that seems to fill a part in us that missing. This walking on air, can’t live without you love is often the image that first appears in our minds.
Or, perhaps the first image we receive when we hear the word love is the love we feel for our children or our family. When we stop and think about this kind of love we have the discovery that we internally make a distinction between familial love and romantic love.
Then there is the moment we discover we love other special people in our lives. Those people with whom we are not romantically involved, and who are not related to us in some way. Our closest friends perhaps. A teacher or minister who touches our lives in ways we cannot immediately define, yet is very real just the same. This too is love.
Getting over the fear of love.
Too often the word love is a barrier in our lives. It is also the source of confusion as to what we mean when we say “I love you.” We are afraid to say I love you to someone for fear they will think we are attracted to them physically. Men, especially, have this block, this fear. I totally understand this fear, I too experience a hesitancy to express love to other males. One thing we do not want to do is inject a doubt as to our intentions into a conversation. This is a perfect example of the fear of love. I can love my friends as dearly as any member of my family (sometimes even more) without injecting a suggestion of physical attraction.
Avoiding challenging others.
There is no way to bring everyone we know along our path of discovering that love has many facets. We certainly cannot insist others be on the same path as we are. What we can do is allow love to fill our hearts and be with people with an open heart. Perhaps my book Bear and Butterfly might help you communicate with others without challenging them. Click on the cover below to read a sample, then order your own copy.
