By Krystal Kuehn, MA, LPC, LLP, NCC
If you have it [Love], you don't need to have anything else, and if you don't have it, it doesn't matter much what else you have.
~Sir James M. Barrie
Aristotle once said that happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence. Ultimately what we want is to be happy. We believe that when we pursue a goal or dream, its hope and fulfillment will make us happy. We invest in relationships, not just out of duty, but because they make us happy. We want to make a difference and help others and we become fulfilled and happy as a result. We work and produce because we must, but also because it fills us with purpose and leads to joy. We create and express our true selves. We pursue things and do what we do because it makes us happy and give life meaning.
Sometimes, however, something is missing along the way. The joy is not there. Something seems to be blocking it. Whenever that occurs, we must ask ourselves this question: Is love missing in some area of my life? It might be that we have been holding on to anger toward someone or something. Maybe we have been cynical or judgmental lately. Or, we might have developed an attitude or become rebellious in our hearts for some reason. Not only will we experience less joy, but we oftentimes will lose our peace of mind and heart when love is not first in our life.
Without love, there is no true happiness. Without love, we lose our peace, our health suffers, success lacks meaning, and we miss the true joy of experiencing God’s love and presence. When we put love first, however, true happiness naturally results. We don’t have to look for it or try to make it happen. It just does. Love is the foundation and source of all that is good. Leo Buscaglia said that Love is life, and if you miss love, you miss life. We need love to enjoy life.
We are always changing in our experience of love. Sometimes we express our love so generously, and other times we impose conditions on it. However, true love, God’s love is never changing. It is unconditional and forever. Nothing can destroy it, make it fade or separate us from it. It is only eclipsed. Everything that love is can be summed up in three words: God is love.
If we want to be truly happy, if we want to break through the barriers that block our joy, we must put love first. How do we put love first? We put love first when we put God first and walk in the 10 keys attributes of love. If we put love first, we will have peace of mind and heart; we will have successful relationships, fulfilling careers and goals, and we will truly be happy4life!
The power of love is amazing and never-ending. It can motivate, energize, inspire, and strengthen. Love can do in a person what nothing else can do. Love has the power to revive and change lives, restore relationships, and bring healing. All else may fail, but love never fails.
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