It is often hard to accomplish things when we feel we are alone. We may use this as an excuse not to attempt things. I spent several years of my life not doing the things I wanted and telling myself that I was waiting to meet someone that I could share them with.

I now realize that I was guilty of trying to find my satisfaction in someone else. I was simply giving in to my fears and using my being alone as an excuse. There is an art to relationships. It is said that love is two becoming one while remaining two.

It is also said that relationships are give and take. I submit that the perfect relationship is about giving. Not 50/50 but 100/100. The joy comes from doing what you can to make the other happy. Many will think that means giving up something, but it does not.

In the Ultimate Healthy Lifestyle we know that what you receive by giving is far more than the giving itself. The most successful people are those who give the most.

Having someone who has your best interests at heart makes life so much easier. Marriage is like heaven when it works and like hell when it does not. All relationship can be compared to marriage on some level.

Connecting with people who have the same or similar goals can make the accomplishment of those goals easier. Exercising with another makes it easier for both. They motivate each other and makes the other accountable. It is much harder to disappoint someone else than one’s self. Joining force creates a sense of responsibility.

For this to be it is not necessary that both do the same exercises only to work out at the same time or the same place. Of course if you are doing the same exercises it makes it all that much better. This principle can be used to work on any area of one’s life. By joining force with someone who has the same desires and goals make life easier for both.

The concept of combining force with someone to exercise with is the same as combining force with a spouse or loved one. All relationships must contain certain basic ingredients. Honesty is the most important. Openness is another, to the degree of what is being worked on.

The truth is that you are never really alone. The greatest relationship has to be with oneself. Once you have achieved balance with yourself all other relationships are easy. If you are at peace with yourself you do not need someone else to motivate you or make you accountable, you just are.

With that accountability within self it becomes second nature to achieve success in the way that is for you. It is at this point that you become the motivator of others and are able to be of service.

TODAY’S TIP: Take an honest look at your relationships. Determine which ones are true and based on love and respect. Also determine which are for dependency or some other reason that feeds your weaknesses.

How is your relationship with self?

You are the center of your universe. You decide what type of world your universe will be. It relates to “what you give out is what you get back.” Are you living in the type of world you want to live in?

If you are not living in the type of world you want to live in, why not? We are on this planet to learn and experience. We choose our experiences with the choices we make each day. With each decision we are faced with many different possibilities. It is up to us to choose the one that will lead us in the direction we want to go.

In the Ultimate Healthy Lifestyle we realize that the choices we make today will be reflected in our tomorrows. So how do we make the best possible choices?

The main way we make the best choices is to re-connect with our true self or spirit. We must believe that our Universe will take care of us and get in touch with that inner guidance. That means getting out of our own way.

We have to transcend our ego and lower mind. In the Ultimate Healthy Lifestyle we realize that in  listening to our inner guidance there are two voices within us.

When we ask ourselves for guidance the first voice we hear will give us a thousand reasons for or against something. The reasons will mostly seem logical. However this is the voice of ego and cannot be trusted. It wants to control the situation and will mislead you if that is what it takes to maintain control.

When you learn to silence that voice you will hear a tiny little voice. This voice will answer questions directly with no long explanations. This is the voice of true spirit. This voice when followed will always work for you best good.

When getting in touch with the voice of spirit we must accept that the answers we are given will not always seem logical. If we have the courage to follow the advice given we will find that all will work out. It may not work out as we would like it but it will always be for our highest good.

Another thing that will help us make the best choices is to use the world around us. We are mirrors for each other. The things we see in others are things that are in ourselves. If we dislike something in another it tells us that there is a need to address that in ourselves.

We are responsible for our lives and our lives only. When we address that which we see in others in ourselves it disappears in the other. At least in your world.

Work on perfecting self and you work on perfecting the world. Give love and you get love. This is how to live a life of fulfillment and growth. It is your choice.

TODAY’S TIP: Use meditation to get in touch with that tiny voice of spirit. Then follow your heart.

Can you hear it?

Relationships are about sharing. Sharing life, love and everything else that we are experiencing. It is said that love is that which makes two people one and yet remain two.

There is an art to successful relationships. The art of being able to interact with another and still allow them the space to be who they are. The purpose of relationships is not to make the other a clone of yourself. Each person has different thoughts, likes and dislikes. The art is being able to enjoy the things that you have in common and allowing the other to enjoy the things they like which is not in common.

We each have strengths and weaknesses. We are better able to see the weakness of others before we see them in ourselves. But we cannot see something in others that is not in ourselves. So one of the things we want to remember is that we are mirror images of each other. This means the things we dislike in our mate are things which we ourselves are guilty of.

As a part of the ultimate healthy lifestyle I teach a technique called, “combined force” for couples. It simple means combining your energies working for the good of both. This means working together on such mutual interests as finances, common goals, and increased awareness and growth.

It also means giving each other space to enjoy the things that are not common to both. One may enjoy golf while the other does not. One may like to get out into the countryside and the other does not. Each should have the freedom to do the things they choose to do without limitation.

If one does something that the other is dead set against perhaps it is time to rethink the relationship. Each should be able live their life in any way they choose as long as it does not interfere with another living their life as they choose.

I encourage couples to sit down at least once a week and have a family meeting. It there are kids i suggest that they be apart of that meeting. Start the meeting with each member of the family having the opportunity to express their feelings and thoughts about what has happened during that week.

First tell the others what you appreciate about them and recount at least one thing that they have done that week that you can thank them for. Then Tell what happened that you were not altogether pleased about. When you are on the receiving end of the criticism be gracious and do not allow pride or ego to turn it negative. These meetings are for learning and growing closer together.

End the meeting by projecting into the next week and discuss ways of improving and working towards common goals. You also want to discuss long term goals, if not every meeting then every third or fourth meeting.

Also I encourage everyone to practice meditation and for couples that they meditate twice daily, once together and once alone.

TODAY’S TIP: Look in the mirror several times a day. Look into your eyes and tell yourself that you love you and mean it. You can only love another as much as you love yourself.

Are you ready for love?

As the saying goes, everyone needs someone. In truth we are all connected but we live our lives in separation.One of the greatest gifts in life is to have someone to share our life with.

We look around us and it seems that it is a rare thing for someone to have a relationship that truly fulfills them. In our society over 50% of marriages end in divorce. Most people seem to float from one relationship to another without any idea of what it takes to have a successful one.

Many look at love as, “what can love do for me,” not “what can my love do for others.” We love others as long as they love us or as long as they make us feel good. Then when the relationship ends, more often than not, it ends in anger or lost of love.

We seem to have a very distorted view of love. We say, the love died. If the love was real it cannot die. Eric Fromm puts it best when he said, in his book “The Art of Loving,” ” a mother cannot love her child unless she loves all children” and ” a man cannot love a woman unless he loves all women.”

There is no casual love and family love and intimate love. There is only one love and it is the same for everyone. The only difference is the intensity of the energy of love that is shared between two people. If one truly loves, they love everyone and everything.

One of the reason we are on this planet is to learn unconditional love. Unconditional love means that we love regardless of what we get from it or what others are doing. Unconditional love means loving whether you are with them or not.

We may also need to look at relationships different. Our relationships are learning, growing experiences. All relationships are not meant to be until death do us part. At least not until you find that lifelong partner. You may have to go through more than one relationship to get to that one.

As long as we are learning and growing together the relationship works, when this is no longer the case it may be time to go our separate ways. This can be done with the love intact. We then become friends.

In the ultimate healthy lifestyle we realize that all our relationships, be they friendships, intimate or otherwise, are helping us grow and evolve. We realize that the most important aspect of our relationship and life itself is unconditional love for others, ourselves and the universe.

In the ultimate healthy lifestyle we know that we can release relationships when they no longer serve us with love and respect for the other. We realize that to do so is the loving thing to do and that we grow stronger.

Tomorrow we will talk about ways to get the most out of a relationship and make it work for the good of all concerned.

TODAY’S TIP: Do not be afraid to use the word love. Tell those you care about that you love them.This will add to their life and yours.

Do you understand love?

We end the week with another article on the importance of self respect and some tips on how to improve your respect for self.

The Significance of Self-Respect – Three Simple Steps to Gain Self-Respect By Mary Tucker

We all long for love, approval and respect from those whom surround us. In all significant areas of lives, career, home, family, primary relationship, spirituality, finances and as a parent, just to name a few, we consciously and unconsciously seek respect and acceptance from the outside world. However, if we take a closer look, we will see that this is not the respect and approval that matters in the long run. What ultimately matters is that we respect and approve of ourselves.

Three simple steps can support you in understanding the significance of developing and maintaining self-respect.

1. Admit that you do not respect yourself.

This first step tells us to be honest with ourselves and admit the ways that we disrespect ourselves. There are many ways we can do this. For example:

Do you have any habits that you know are not in your best interest, like smoking or abusing drugs or alcohol?

Do you over eat and create an unhealthy body? Do you carry around anger that may lurk just below the surface, waiting to erupt at the slightest provocation?

Do you come home from work exhausted and ignore you family.

Do you totally ignore your spirituality, that part of you that has always been with you?

Do you routinely beat yourself up with negative internal dialog?

If you answered yes to any one of these questions, you are exhibiting a lack of self respect. Acknowledgment without making yourself bad or wrong is the first step. As the saying goes, we can’t fix what we don’t acknowledge.

2. Understand what self-respect is.

We’ve looked at ways we might disrespect ourselves in step one. Now, let’s look at what a shift in thinking might be. Self-respect, literally interpreted means to respect one’s self. And this is easier said than done. After getting honest with yourself about the ways you practice personal disrespect, you’ve cleared the path for discovery of what self-respect really looks like for you.

Ask yourself what really matters to you within yourself. Who and what do you desire to be for yourself, not others. Journal about that.

What are ten things you think are good about you? Think in terms of qualities here, such as kindness, compassion, creativity.

What are you willing to give up in your current behavior and perspective in order to truly respect yourself?

3. Embrace what is right about you

When you embrace what is right about you,you acknowledge that you value these qualities. While most of us have been taught one way or another that is is arrogant to think of our strengths, to embrace them and live them, I want to assert that this is a lie. That’s right. It’s not true. Not only is it untrue, it keeps you locked in the pattern of personal disrespect.

Fear of becoming arrogant or “too big for our britches” has kept us playing small. Fear of being asked, “who do you think you are?” when we assert ourselves keeps us stuck. The more important question is “who do I think I’m not?”

When we focus on what we are not, that’s exactly what we manifest…nothing great. We create what we put our energy into and ultimately, we are responsible for every aspect of our current reality and we always have the power to move beyond it, and to create the life of our dreams. But before we can do that, we have to feel that we deserve it. When we look for what is right about ourselves, we begin the shift toward growth and living our best life. And when we are living our best life, we are practicing self-respect.

Mary Tucker is the owner and founder of the Coaching firm, Cultivate Your Life. She teaches executives and professionals how to create wealth for their company without losing their soul. She is a the author of numerous newspaper and magazine articles on personal growth, conscious leadership and successful living. Want more? Go to http://www.cultivateyourlife.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mary_Tucker

TODAY’S TIP: Walk with your head held high and remember who you are and that you deserve respect from self and others.

Are you satisfied with the respect you receive?

You can only show respect to others if you respect yourself and you will get respect from others only if you respect yourself. Here are some thoughts.

Self-Respect – Six Examples of How Learning to Respect Yourself Attracts Respect From Others By Michelle Enis Vasquez

Too many people expect to be respected by others when they don’t act respectfully themselves. Once you learn to respect yourself, you will attract respect from others. Here are some guidelines for learning self-respect.

“I want him to respect me.”

“If people respect me, I’ll respect them.”

“My kids should respect me (it doesn’t matter how I treat them).”

If you don’t respect yourself, you’ll never respect others.

Self-Respecting People

1. Think about how their behavior affects the people around them

2. Consider what they say before blurting out hurtful words

3. Understand the Golden Rule according to Eugene Brown, LPC (my former supervisor and mentor): Do unto others as they need to be done unto

4. Seek first to understand, then to be understood (Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People)

5. Take responsibility for their behavior

6. Let go of the need to hold grudges

Let’s look at these six ideas about self-respect:

1. Think about how their behavior effects the people around them

Self-respecting people realize that they don’t live in a vacuum; their behavior affects others. They think about what they do and ask themselves, “How will my doing ________ affect the people I care about/my coworkers/others I come in contact with?” They weigh the consequences carefully before acting.

2. Consider what they say before blurting out hurtful words

When self-respecting people engage in disagreements with others, they act diplomatically. Yes, they experience anger just like the rest of us, but they choose their responses instead of allowing a knee-jerk reaction to determine what happens next. They realize that hurtful words won’t help their partner understand what is wrong and will harm the relationship.

3. Understand the Golden Rule according to Eugene Brown, LPC (my former supervisor and mentor): Do unto others as they need to be done unto

This ties into understanding that their behavior impacts others. They realize that just because they would like something done a certain way, that others may not agree. They take the time to learn how others need to be treated, rather than just using a “one size fits all” approach.

4. Seek first to understand, then to be understood (Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People)

Self-respecting people understand the value of active listening. They know that if people feel understood, then they are more likely to be willing to listen to another person’s point of view. Self-respecting people do not try to push their views on others to be understood first. They are willing to work to earn the other person’s respect and trust.

5. Take responsibility for their behavior

This means they are willing to admit when they are wrong. They feel comfortable with themselves and don’t feel threatened if they make a mistake. Their ego isn’t tied up in always needing to be right. This also means that the self-respecting person lets others be responsible for their behavior, letting go of the need to control them or change them.

6. Let go of the need to hold grudges

Self-respecting people realize that when they hold a grudge, they keep themselves locked into anger and resentment. They know they will keep growing as a person when they allow others to be responsible for their behavior instead of holding a grudge to try to make others change.

If you are worried about the state of your relationship, I want to help. Contact me to schedule a complementary Get Acquainted session. I encourage you to get my free report, “Want to Improve your Marriage? Get Rid of These Seven Deadly Habits” at http://trueloverelationshipcoaching.com. Also, check out http://truelovesavemarriage.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michelle_Enis_Vasquez

TODAY’S TIP: Be aware of the people around you. Notice that the ones that are respectful get the most respect.

Do you get the respect you deserve?

This week we will talk about respect. We will start today to talk about respect in its broadest sense. Then we will narrow it down to self.

Respect is one of those things, like love, which can only be expressed in relation to respect for self. We see many signs that many of us have lose respect for others. We see this in the rudeness that has become so much a part of some segments of our society.

I believe that one reason for this lost of respect is that we have lost the concept of sacredness. In the Divine sense, all of life and all of the Universe is sacred.

We are Divine beings having a physical experience and we bring the Divine into this physical world. However we have somehow become disconnected to our Divine self and have lost our way.

One of the major pillars of wellness is respect. Respect for all things, which begins with self. Everything begins with self.

You are the center of your Universe and you orchestrate the play which is your life. The more you are aware of the Divine and the Sacred, the more you are able to keep your respect for life and self alive.

What is self respect? It is treating yourself, others, and all that surrounds in ways that reflect the good of all. It is living your life so that it reflects the best that you can possibly be.

You still see people who smoke, even with all the information available that shows how smoking harms the body. This is not self respect. You see people who are rude by habit. This is not respecting the objects of the rudeness or of self.

We are all connected, so our actions to one is felt on some level by all and by self. Also, you get back what you give out. Therefore acts of rudeness and disrespect to others will come back as acts of rudeness and disrespect to you.

Self respect is intermingled with self esteem and self worth. These images of self come from a lifetime of being in this physical world.

You can raise the level of self respect as you come to grips with who you really are. You are a Divine being and as such deserve all the respect that is available and especially from you.

As in any other area of your life you can work on building your respect for life and for self. All it takes is effort, belief and faith.

TODAY’S TIP: Take a look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are doing everything you can to improve you, in all areas of your life. If not, you are disrespecting you.

How respectful are you?

We end this week with an article on how unconditional love can transform your life.

Unconditional Love – The Transforming Power of Unconditional Love By Alicia Isaacs

You’ve heard the words “I love you” so many times that it seems that the deep meaning of it has become superficial in its usage. But there’s love that is profound, constant and unconditional and it is from and out of this love that we have emerged. We’ve come from the heart of love and in remaining connected to the Source is where we find our life and sustenance.

Allow the fire of perfect love to radiate and burn within your inner being. Let it consume your soul, transform your mind and express itself through your body through focused thought and intention. It has always been there as a part of you and you begin to experience it when you are consciously aware of the connection to Love’s existence and turn full face towards Love in order to experience the warmth.

If this love is a part of us why then is it not more evidenced in our world? If you’ve ever observed an infant – they do everything instinctively. You don’t need to tell an infant when it’s time to begin to roll over or learn to crawl or walk. Neither do you have to educate them about love. They love you unconditionally. They quickly forgive and never hold a grudge. But as they continue to grow they’re reconditioned by society’s way of thinking, no longer the innocence of love – then they begin to adapt and lose the true essence of their original heritage.

We were all there at one point but have drawn away and/or moved away from living a life of true love. We’ve collected a lot of debris of judgment, anger, resentment, bitterness and unforgiveness that have blocked our communication with our Source of Love and have therefore stopped the flow of Love from entering our lives. We’ve now adapted to a superficial love that says, “I love you if you love me. I love you because you’re cute or I love you because you are rich, or because you make me feel so good inside.”

True love goes way beyond these conditions and says, “I love you because I love you and nothing can change that. I love you in spite of and not because of.” We have moved so far away from what is truth that the truth we embrace is so marred by the debris in our lives that when true unconditional love comes it’s hardly recognizable because we’ve grown used to the false identity and definition of love.

A call to return to love

It’s time that we return to the Source of Love that we may be transformed in the presence of Love and Love’s embrace.

How do you experience Love?

You experience this power because you desire it, you long for it, you summon it and Love comes to you. When you move away from it, you move away from the Source of the fire, the heat and passion of love and you begin to feel cold. Many people are cold. Some experience spurts of warmth but they never come close enough to experience the intensity and passion of Divine love. When you have, there is still much more to experience. When you come to that place where you remain in the intensity of love, you experience new levels of ecstasy you never thought possible.

Experience the Ultimate Love

It’s called the setting of yourself aside to surrender to and experience ultimate love. It satisfies, it thrills, it’s joy fulfillment, it’s deep inner peace. It’s the wanting or needing of nothing else – the satisfaction of your entire being.

Have you ever experienced a love so deep it burns to the core of your inner being? It’s like walking around with an inner campfire but never being consumed by it. It saturates your being to the point you need to take a deep breath so you can breathe or you ask for a second just so you can catch your breath? Come take a journey with me to the depths of your soul and experience the true flames of love.

Experience Love like you’ve never known, peace and joy in abundance and satisfaction unlimited. Once you’ve tasted, you’ll always desire to return, but why leave? You could remain there – you could live there and experience new levels of ecstasy in its purity.

To learn more simple doable step-by-step strategies, that will get you from where you are to where you want to be and experience a transformed life, I invite you to claim your free ebook Changing Inside Out Now! The Power of Unconditional Love and get access to regular life-changing strategies at http://www.changinginsideoutnow.com.

From Alicia Isaacs – Changing Inside Out Now!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alicia_Isaacs

TODAY’S TIP: Do not give or accept anything less than the best life has to offer, unconditional love.

Will you love unconditionally?

Today, another interesting article about unconditional love.

Unconditional Love – Easier Said Than Done By Irene Conlan

It seems appropriate that in this week before Valentine’s Day we take a look at love and relationships. Loving and being love is, after all, what we all long for, isn’t it? Today I’d like to talk about “Unconditional Love” because we throw that term around so much.

The other day a friend of mind told me about her finace and how wonderful he is. “I love him unconditionally,” she effused, but later on in the conversation she listed some of the things he’ll need to change after they are married. Oops! That isn’t unconditional, is it?

The love we’re not talking about is best described by David Hawkins:

“What the world generally refers to as love is an intense emotional condition combining physical attraction, possessiveness, control, addiction. eroticism and novelty.It’s usually fragile and fluctuating, waxing and waning with varying conditions. When frustrated this emotion often reveals an underlying anger and dependency that it had masked. That love can turn to hate is a common perception, but here, an addictive sentimentality is likely what is being spoken about, rather than Love.There probably never was actual love in such a relationship for Hate stems from Pride, not Love.” (Power vs. Force, David R. Hawkins, Hay House, 2002, pp. 89-90)

Unconditional love is just that – unconditional. No conditions. No “I’d love you if only… ” In terms of romantic love it means I love you even if you throw your clothes on the floor or leave hair in the sink. It means I love you if you become ill or lose your job, get old or fat, become crabby or forgetful. I love you even if you’re no longer “arm candy” or I don’t agree with your politics. It means I love you if you snore, bite your nails, or have other annoying habits. It means I love you even if the thrill is gone and romance has gotten lost in the reality of paying bills, raising children, and being a participant in life. It means I’ve always got your back and I want only the best for you.

Few of us can love like that even though we say we do. We are human beings, each with our own agenda, abilities, likes and dislikes, personality, intelligence and emotions and, a lasting relationship require a mutual coming to terms with all of these.

Hawkins is talking about a level of consciousness, an energy level, a state of being, a love that doesn’t fluctuate and isn’t changed by circumstances. It is all inclusive and has no barriers – in fact it removes barriers. It “focuses on the goodness of life in all its expressions and augments that which is positive.” Unconditional love dissolves negativity and positively affects all around it. Hawkins states that only about.4% of the world’s population reaches this level and truly loves unconditionally.

When I love you unconditionally I look beyond the externals and see the essence of who you are. I see indescribable beauty there and I can declare, “Wow! What’s not to love.”

Irene Conlan has a masters degree in nursing, a doctoral degree in metaphysics, is a certified hypnotherapist and an ordained minister. She practices holistic hypnotherapy and officiates at weddings in Scottsdale, Az and the Phoenix metropolitan area. Irene can be found at http://www.theselfimprovementblog.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Irene_Conlan

TODAY’S TIP: As with other things, practice makes perfect. Feel the love.

Does it get easier?

Today’s article is longer than normal but has some good food for thought.

What Does Unconditional Love Really Mean? By Roy Klienwachter

Unconditional love means unconditional freedom. Love and freedom are two of those words that are interchangeable. Freedom of choice is unconditional love-
unconditional freedom. Choice is another of those words that are interchangeable with Love and freedom.

For the most part, humanity understands little of what the word unconditional means. Unconditional means… “NO CONDITIONS.” This lack of understanding is what has divided man from man, and religion from religion throughout his sojourn in the physical reality. It is again man’s ego trying to grasp the idea, and not being able to surrender to its meaning. It appears to be the nature of humanity to always add conditions to unconditional-let me demonstrate.

The one common thread that I have found weaving through man’s many belief systems is that God is Unconditional Love. I have yet to have anyone tell me that this is not so, and it seems to be accepted by all belief systems that are centered on a creator. If you are in disagreement with this statement then there would probably be no sense in you reading any further.

Now it must be made clear in this example that unconditional means that there are no conditions to God’s Love. Do you understand and agree, that unconditional means no conditions apply?” Be sure because it gets more difficult to differentiate as we move along.

Do you understand that if there was a condition to God’s love, then God would be giving conditional love? Conditional love is not the same as unconditional love as described in the preceding paragraph. I have never heard or read anywhere that God gives conditional love, have you?

Love and freedom are the same; if there is a condition to freedom, then it is not unconditional. Freedom is given from unconditional love. Freedom of choice is the same thing as unconditional love-they are all the same thing. I know this is repetitive, but if you can follow this understanding, and accept it, then there is something further you need to understand.

The following concept is extremely difficult for most people to understand. Because love, freedom, and choice are unconditional, there can be no PUNISHMENT associated with them; once again-no punishments. Here is where the so called enlightened fall by the wayside. They cannot accept any of these things without the recourse to punishment. You can practice unconditional love, unconditional freedom, and unconditional choice with no punishments! God will never punish you! Retribution is a lie, it was all made up. Only Man will punish you. Anyone who tells you different, is not coming from unconditional love. They live in fear of you accepting these things. They do not understand what unconditional means.

Most all who have read the first half of this article will not have problems with it until they get to the “No Punishment” part. At this point man’s ego takes over, and will try to reason his way out of agreeing with the concept of unconditional. He will begin to say, yes I understand what unconditional means-but! Then he will start; you cannot have people running around doing whatever they want. There is a price (condition) for freedom. You can not freely love anyone you want, that is immoral (conditional). Our choices are limited by are colour, sexual orientation, creed, age, sex, and geographic region (conditional).

If you buy into these conditions, then you are in direct contradiction with what you may have agreed with when you started reading this article. If you didn’t agree to the first part, then you have read farther then you were supposed to. You were warned! For those who do not agree that God is unconditional love, and don’t understand the contradiction; let me explain. There seems to be a paradox here. Can unconditional love and conditional love exist at the same time? The answer is yes, because we have forgotten our heritage, we have moved away from unconditional. God gives unconditional love; man lives in conditional love!

This is where the contradiction comes from. We understand the love of God, and we feel inferior to it. We can not except that unconditional love is who we really are, and therefore apply conditions to our love and freedom. We project our human emotions and feelings onto God, effectively insulating ourselves from the reality of unconditional love. We attach certain conditions to his love. If we do not follow his will, we will be punished by him as we would punish those that would not do our will. Man’s love, freedom, and choice are conditional because we have always had freedom of choice, to choose and accept those conditions which are conditional. It is paradoxal and appropriate that humanity should set conditions for itself, in direct contradiction to what God represents, and expected from his creations-that life is free to live as it desires without limitation. It is the natural course of all living things to evolve to the next best version of itself, so the natural tendency is to survive, not destroy.

Who is it that is teaching us about conditional love? Who or what is actually separating us from the unconditional love of God? The clue has been in the Newspaper’s recently and has been manifesting itself for weeks. I’m in Canada, and it is August 08, 2003-the date I have written this article. For weeks now there has been a major controversy about legalized gay marriages. Who do you think is at the forefront of all the objections? Who is it that is using fear tactics to persuade politicians and supporters to change their policies? Who has come out, and said that they fear for the souls of those supporters?

They are the same profits that have for centuries, taught us of Gods conditional, unconditional love. They have taught us that God’s love is unconditional, and that it must be accepted as blind faith-and yet they have set down punishments for practicing unconditional-so in effect they have made unconditional, conditional. I don’t blame you if you are confused here; who wouldn’t be. They have used fear, punishment, and death to implant this lie into our belief systems. They have been as the false profit. The institute does not correctly reflect God’s love, nor do the profits and teachers-they don’t even come close to teaching it. Their interpretations reflect only their fear that they share with the rest of humanity.

As you reason these contradictions, listen to yourself. Are you coming from unconditional love, or are you reacting from fear? Whatever you now believe, you will have chosen it from unconditional love, because that is your true nature. It should be your reality. You have unconditional freedom to live conditionally, in conditional love without freedom of choice, if that is what you desire. There is no greater display of divine love.

At this moment try to imagine choosing to live unconditionally, try to choose between the two, conditional or unconditional. And if you chose the later, how would you condition yourself to accepting it.

Feel the unconditional love as you make a free choice. As you make the choice, you should notice that you are not being punished for it. That may come later, not from God, but from those who would denounce your choice, and who are living in the realm of conditionality. If nothing else, understand the contradiction. But also understand that who you really are is free. Do not fear for your soul, your soul can take care of itself, and of course that is exactly what it is doing. It is the BLIND FAITH (which is not surrender) that leads you into darkness, when you do not question it. Faith is never blind; it is an essential step in the process of knowing.

Not taking responsibility for your own salvation has given power to those who would use your vulnerability to keep you on the straight and narrow-not yours, but theirs.

The human ability to see black and call it white, is a real blessing in a world of contradictions that require us to make a choice, and believe nothing else. There is no one that is more blind than he who will not see. This has led us into the notion of right and wrong; you are wrong, I am right. We both cannot be right-right?

As you learn to accept the choices of others not being as your own, you will free yourself from the necessity of making judgments about them, and you will be practicing unconditional love. Your new found love for yourself and humanity will set you free. It will be another major step into expanding your enlightenment. To truly free humanity, mankind must see all aspects of itself as being free; as being created from absolute unconditional love. In the greater picture, all things are perfect as they are. It is not necessary to like someone as they are, but it is necessary to love them unconditionally as they are.

The bottom line is that you cannot live your life unconditionally because you live in a physical world that is conditional. However, it doesn’t stop you from experiencing unconditional love. Absolute unconditional love is the very nature of the creator-which you are-and it is only when you are focused on yourself as Creator that you will experience unconditional love.

(revised 03/2010)

Roy E. Klienwachter is an ordained minister, light worker, writer and author of Spiritual New Age Wisdom books written in simple language with the eloguence of Zen wisdom.

http://www.klienwachter.com

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TODAY’S TIP: Contemplate the subject of unconditional love.

Can you feel it?