The Real Meaning of Love

This month is considered the month of love, but actually isn’t every month, every week, and day supposed to be about love?It’s really all there is. We are called to Love.Love each other. Love our families. Love our neighbors. Even love our enemies… (which there really aren’t any when you learn about love).

The Challenge with Love

The challenge we face is that even though we are told this, we are also taught to compete with one another and to strive to be the best by the world’s standards.So, we inevitably end up confused: Do I embrace love by the world’s standards to people please, or do I follow my own heart to love myself first and trust that others will love me as I am?

Getting Lost

This picture of me was taken in high school. At that point in my life, I was very much a people pleaser, seeking validation from my peers and starting to lose myself to embody what the world wanted of me.I had given up on my dreams, stopped using my voice to express who I was inside, and signed up for the life track for ‘success’ – going to college, getting married, starting a worthy job, etc.  I am not sorry or regretful for any part of my life journey because it led me to have a good marriage, two amazing kids, and eventually a successful home business.But, the girl inside me got lost. She spent so much time loving on everyone else that she forgot herself.She forgot how creative she is.She forgot her original desire to be more and step all into her calling.She started ‘doing’ more than ‘being’. She struggled with trusting her inner voice and what God had told her who she was a young girl.By the time I was 14, I knew that I was called to do something great. And, I believe YOU have that calling, too. We’ve just stopped listening.

Find Yourself Again

How do we get back to ourselves?  By placing self-love as a daily priority in our lives.By starting our day with reading devotions, meditating, and connecting to our higher self and God. By journaling and asking for wisdom to come to us for our next steps. By letting go of the past and staying in the present moment, which is really all we have.This journey back to self all started for me when I was about 26 years old and I decided to connect to the vision for my life. I wrote about everything I desired my life to be and who I wanted to become for myself, my family, and the people I wanted to serve.I left nothing out, even if I couldn’t see how it was going to happen. I just leaned into the love flowing through me and telling me my calling.

Love More

Although this path back to myself started over half my life ago, it has taken me so long to understand how love works in our lives, even if you’ve had a lot of loss, as I have. I am still a work in progress but strive every day to love myself more so I can be more love to others.I know this is what you want: to love your loved ones more. But we can’t do that without loving ourselves first.It starts with loving yourself just enough to give your vision and purpose a chance to unfold.So, in this ‘month of love’ can you start with you? Let me know in the comments below.Download the Stand Up for Your Sister Worksheet.

Vision is victory,

Carey