There is a saying that love makes the world go around.  On a personal level it makes your world go around!

There are movies and books about love. Love has been seen as being connected with the highest frequencies and God energy. There are many forms and many beliefs associated with love.

How does it fit in with our physical reality and modern lifestyle? One way to look at it is through the results of what happens with love. The following are questions to think of as a stream of consciousness type of exercise with a few questions to get you started. You can see what comes to mind for you with each of the questions.

What do you imagine the results of feeling truly loved would be for you?

Do you think you would feel happier?

Would you be more confident and content?

Would you be healthier and value yourself more because you were loved?

Would you aspire to greater heights, knowing that you could not lose the love you had?

Would you be kinder to others?

Would you judge those around you less?

Would you be more generous, knowing you were truly loved?

Would you take care of the body that was loved?

Would it matter who was giving the love?

I imagine that unconditional love would make a huge difference in your life. At the same time, I am guessing that you would still feel something lacking in your life, even if your parents, partner, and acquaintances showered you with love. Why do I think this?

I think this because ultimately you are the only one who counts in terms of the love quota. You are the one who lives your life in your skin with your organs and thoughts. You have your goals and characteristics and karma.

As the saying goes, no one can die for you, in the same way that no one but you can live for you or give you the love that you need. And we all do need love.

It is wonderful to get external love and support; it can really help us when we reach low points or difficult times in our lives. However, it is just that, loving support. If we do not love ourselves, we cannot accept the support, and it falls on deaf ears. How can we recognize love when we do not love ourselves? How can we accept a gift that we do not comprehend?

In order to receive from others, we must first love ourselves.

Loving yourself unconditionally is what I mean by loving yourself. To truly love yourself, you need to accept who you are and all you have done in life, as well as what you have not done.

A key to this acceptance is forgiveness. In my book I refer to a way of doing this in the form of the Hawaiian forgiveness ceremony HO’O PONO PONO.

Another factor that is important to self-love is to listen to yourself. Take yourself seriously. When you feel or intuit that you need something, give yourself the space to obtain it. When you know you do not want to do something, be honest with those around you.

This can be done in a constructive way, explaining how you feel rather than confronting those around you with your needs in an aggressive or defensive manner. You may still decide to take the action, but at least you will have honored yourself and made a choice with the input from others who are involved in the action.