12 Tips For Living With Love

Tracy was angry with the world:

• Her husband of seventeen years had cheated on her with her best friend and left her.
• Her children were struggling in the aftermath of the separation.
• At the same time, she got laid off from her job and had to begin searching for new employment all over again.

The content she consumed online and on television all seemed to confirm that life was a dark, dreary place – she read depressing news story after story and listened to music about lovers scorned.

Then, she complained to anybody who would listen about the trials she’d been going through before eagerly listening to their woes.

Tracy had a right to be angry – she’d been wronged in several situations.

But the more time she spent focusing on her injustices and the injustices happening in the world around her, the more it fuelled that anger.

Then Tracy stumbled on a quote about love that she liked:

To combat the anger and negativity she felt, Tracy determined that she would live each day with love instead.

And as she opened herself up to more love, amazing things began happening and she experienced many of the following benefits:

Increased Energy

Since she wasn’t focusing on everything negative in the world, Tracy had more time and energy to give to what truly mattered in her life – helping her kids recover from the separation and finding a new job.

It’s not easy when life knocks you down, but the more committed you are to living with love and refusing to hold onto anger, the easier it is to get back up again.

And that’s because your energy isn’t tied up in the negative anymore.

More Happiness

As her energy increased, Tracy slowly found it easier to see reasons to be happy each day.

Sometimes, it was something small like seeing pink flowers when she went on her daily walk.

Other times, it was getting a hug from her teenage daughter or hearing from a friend who reached out.

Living with love opens you up to more happiness, and that’s because you can see the good in life and appreciate it without the pain and anger keeping you from joy.

Grant Forgiveness

Sometimes, we get stuck in a cycle of negativity and bitterness because unforgiveness has festered in our hearts.

You may have a legitimate gripe and you might certainly be entitled to an apology or depending on the offense, maybe even restitution.

But as is often the case with those who are wronged, you may never get an apology, and you certainly may never receive restitution.

However, that does not mean that you have to carry around what happened for the rest of your life.

You can choose forgiveness and embrace the power of letting go, and extending forgiveness is certainly a way of living with love.

Note, though, that this doesn’t mean that you have to let the person back into your life or ever have a relationship with them again – sometimes, forgiveness simply means you no longer focus on the offense and choose instead to move forward.

Find Peace

The amazing thing about living with love is that it helps you find peace, and that’s because you can finally stop taking responsibility for others and their actions.

Instead, you acknowledge that what those around you do is simply a reflection of them and not on you.

The beauty of doing this is that you feel free – you’re at peace with the situations that happen, even if you don’t necessarily like the other person or agree with their viewpoint right now.

Attract Positive People

Choosing to focus on love also means that you can attract positive people into your life.

When you’re focused on the positive, other positive people seem to appear around you as if by magic, and that’s because people are attracted to people like them.

There’s a saying that’s popular right now that explains this phenomenon. It reads, “Your vibe attracts your tribe.”

If you’re constantly surrounded by negative, angry or bitter people, it might be time to dig deep and examine your own outlook – because the people you surround yourself with do have an effect on you, whether you realize it not, and negative people can bring you down.

Find Resilience

Another wonderful benefit of living with love is that you become more resilient in the face of adversity and other hardships.

That’s because you can spread compassion and comfort over yourself – and the more you do this, the easier it gets to bounce back from disappointment and heartbreak.

Deepen Your Bond With Family And Friends

No matter how old a person is, their deepest wish is to be loved and known – and when you cultivate an attitude of love and kindness, those around you can’t help but notice. They begin to turn to you when they need advice, comfort, or nurturing.

In return, this allows you to practise your new-found ability to love on an even deeper level.

You build intimate, close relationships with your friends and family because they feel they can trust you and lean on you.

Accept Yourself as You Are

Living with love doesn’t mean focusing on just everybody else – love is for you, too.

The more you lean into love, the more you’ll find it easier to accept yourself as you are. You will begin to realize that you are a unique being, worthy of kindness and respect.

Embrace Others Where They Are

Everybody’s journey in life is unique, but when you’re angry, bitter, and focused on the negative, it’s difficult to appreciate where others are.

But if you focus on leading and living from a place of love, you realize that somebody else’s journey may not look quite like yours – and acknowledging this truth gives you space to accept and embrace others where they are.

Enjoy Your Life More

When you realize that this is your life, and you are the one who creates your own purpose, and you cast aside the notion that somebody else (real or imaginary) has a plan for you that you may not be living up to, it is liberating.

True, this puts more responsibility on your own shoulders – you can no longer blame anybody else for what you choose to do with your life – but the upside is that you will be more content.

And if you don’t like the results of the choices you make, make different ones next time.

All of this means that you’ll find it easier to sit back and appreciate the little things – not only will you be happier, but you’ll also enjoy your life more.

Doing this can lead to increased gratitude which causes more love to show up.

Dream of a Brighter Future

Love nurtures your dreams and gives you the confidence and the ability to see the possibilities.

It helps you understand that while things might be dark in this moment, you can still have a brighter future.

The more you believe in love, the more you believe in yourself and come to appreciate your connection to everything and everybody.

Love Gives You Hope

Letting more love into your life is an amazing, exciting adventure – but it doesn’t mean that you always show up perfectly with love in every situation.

Many people commit to letting more love into their everyday lives then quickly get disappointed or disgusted when they don’t immediately turn into the next Gandhi.

Instead of focusing on what you’re doing wrong, look at all you’re doing right. Congratulate yourself for your little victories and focus on having compassion and love for yourself first.

Every bit of love within you then flows from this place and you’ll be able to love your family, friends, community, and even the world more effectively!

Conclusion

The words “love” and “hate” are, or should be, powerful emotions, and yet they are frequently used these days as synonyms for “like” and “dislike”, which leaves you without words to use when you truly do mean love and hate.

But regardless of whether you’re using the stronger versions of these words, or the watered-down versions, I think it would be hard to dispute that it’s better to live a life filled with love rather than hate.

It benefits you, both mentally and physically, since it’s now known that what goes on in your mind can have an actual impact on your body (and vice versa), and those around you.

And this is not about pretending that bad things don’t happen – it’s accepting them and carrying on anyway, with a positive outlook that frames the problem as something that can be solved and lived with.

And finally, don’t forget to download the accompanying workbook (link below).

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

1. Creating More Love And Light In The World Workbook