What are the things that you love? Here are some photos of what I love:
I love my family and friends. I love nature, especially the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes area. I love sharing – this photo was taken in Haiti with Eduardo whom we are helping with his educational expenses. I love gardening. I love to travel – this is a photo of the main fountain in Scottsdale, Arizona. Other loves not depicted in the photo collage are my love of reading and my love for God.
Thomas Aquinas wrote: “The things that we love tell us what we are.”
I believe that he was on to something. We will naturally gravitate to that which fulfills our essential self – our true self that we cloak behind self-imposed social conventions. (Some of our social conventions are necessary such as obeying traffic laws, but most involve worrying about what others think of us.)
So …. what do you love? Not what you are supposed to love, but what you truly love?
Aquinas used the term “things”. I choose to expand that term to include not only tangible stuff, but also relationships and activities.
So ….. what do you truly love?
I encourage you to get clear with this question. Make a list of what you truly love.
Ask yourself if indeed you love each item or if you placed it on the list because you are supposed to love it. Cross off your list anything that you do not truly love.
And have you listed those things that maybe no one else knows about? Such as dancing to traditional Mongolian music? List it – no one is looking, no one is judging.
- Now you have your list. Does your list feel true? If yes, ask yourself this next question: how much of each day is spent involved in what I love?
And now the final question: What small steps can you take to begin increasing the amount of time spent each day involved in what you love?
To sum it all up: Clarify what you love, increase the daily involvement with these loves and your true essential self will begin to bask in joyful contentment.
