Daily Question, December 11 When have you loved really well? 36 Reflections Share Click here to cancel reply.Please log in or Create a Profile to post a comment. Notify me when someone replies to my comment via e-mail. Paula2 months agoPaulaWho ever had raced, fed and cared a kid has loved well, but who have done the same for an old person had loved even better 1 Reply TofuLove2 months agoTofuLoveI think I’m a fairly loving person, even if the result isn’t always the most optimal … I definitely try very hard to be mindful of other people’s needs and circumstances. I have my limits and I work to push past where those currently are to be a more understanding person, that’s something I struggle with. I think a lot of that is self care, I make sure to have a healthy diet, exercise daily, adequate sleep and proper hydration — these are the bedrock and I make those priorities. I ...I think I’m a fairly loving person, even if the result isn’t always the most optimal … I definitely try very hard to be mindful of other people’s needs and circumstances. I have my limits and I work to push past where those currently are to be a more understanding person, that’s something I struggle with. I think a lot of that is self care, I make sure to have a healthy diet, exercise daily, adequate sleep and proper hydration — these are the bedrock and I make those priorities. I don’t drink, do any drugs (including pot) and mostly stay away from a lot of media. I feel fortunate to have those as options for my life. I also take a few vitamin supplements which I’ve found works for me, everyone is different but I think a prebiotic and probiotic supplement can be beneficial for most. The other thing is I don’t easily back down from challenges or fears, if something scares me I tend to just push myself to overcome the fear … it may not be the most graceful but I’m gonna show up and push myself past the fear. I think that’s a big aspect in loving others, a person needs courage and a kind of confidence or you spend your life afraid of the messiness of life and others. I’d say courage and compassion are defining characteristics of my life and the choices I make so I think I love well. I could love better though. 😀 Read More1 Reply Michele2 months agoMicheleAs a Medical Lab Technician who worked for a cannabis lab I can say ‘pot’ has many medicinal qualities and benefits the many patients who use it. It should not be classified as a drug in the same category as heroin or cocaine. 0 Reply Malag2 months agoMalagAm very resistant to this question: that somehow love can be measured – good job; bad job. What helps love to flow is compassion, connection, commitment, you’re in their corner. Then there’s the loves that last a long time where there’s also deep reference points of common shared experiences. And what helps further, for me, to ensure it flows is remembering that love is a verb, that actions, however small, matter. 6 Reply Mica2 months agoMicaI’ve loved my guinea piggies really well. Sadly, it feels easier to love them really well than to love people, who are so complex, really well. But I love people in my family greatly – I was writing ‘gratefully’ : that, too. I’m grateful to have such a wonderful and loving family. 5 Reply Annie2 months agoAnnieI don’t know that I really have loved well. I have stood up, stood by, stood for, but was it out of love? I would like to think so, but just as easily stubbornness, pride, maybe duty. 5 Reply Zenith2 months agoZenithGosh. I don't know what it means to love really well. I think it means to do the very best you can and leave the rest to God. I said in a previous post that love at it's best, hurts. It is so wonderful it hurts. It pricks your heart with the wonder of it. You almost don't feel worthy of such a gift. I had a relationship like that a while back. Love does hurt. There is no way around it. To be able to accept love and then turn around and let it go, takes great practice. Like all that is miraculous...Gosh. I don’t know what it means to love really well. I think it means to do the very best you can and leave the rest to God. I said in a previous post that love at it’s best, hurts. It is so wonderful it hurts. It pricks your heart with the wonder of it. You almost don’t feel worthy of such a gift. I had a relationship like that a while back. Love does hurt. There is no way around it. To be able to accept love and then turn around and let it go, takes great practice. Like all that is miraculous in life, love is a gift. A very great gift. Read More5 Reply Cheryle2 months agoCheryleWhen I have “failed” myself and others, (which I have spectacularly) and been given the courage to accept God’s Grace and forgiveness to learn, to soften, and… to begin again with gentleness with compassion. 5 Reply Dusty Su2 months agoDusty SuCompanioning one of my closest friends through her end-of-life journey completely on her terms. Never have I been so selfless. The emptying was lonely but beautiful. If I have done anything well in my life, I did my friend’s death exceptionally. 8 Reply Anna2 months agoAnnaIf “well” means “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15, 13), for me it is a work in progress. giving your own life… With joy … The question for me is always the same: is it a spontaneous attitude, or something to get for a deliberate purpose, with discernment and practice? 5 Reply Gene2 months agoGeneI really don’t know when I have Loved well, I feel as if I could have and always Love more, better. I struggle with this at times and perhaps it’s the ego getting the best of me…. but we’re always going at it over one thing or another. 7 Reply Mica2 months agoMicaThat’s ok, Gene – the question says ‘really well’ – not perfectly! 🙂 2 Reply Nikhila2 months agoNikhilaA rather difficult question to answer! I can think of various occasions where I have truly felt love. But, when it comes to moments that I have loved really well, I can't think of any memory with the fierceness needed. There are, of course, moments wherein I have been a nicer person and have been kind, generous, helpful, considerate, caring and sensitive. But, moments where I have loved really well - well, that seems like a blur. Moments spent with my cat might come close to moments where I have...A rather difficult question to answer! I can think of various occasions where I have truly felt love. But, when it comes to moments that I have loved really well, I can’t think of any memory with the fierceness needed. There are, of course, moments wherein I have been a nicer person and have been kind, generous, helpful, considerate, caring and sensitive. But, moments where I have loved really well – well, that seems like a blur. Moments spent with my cat might come close to moments where I have loved, if not loved well. Does that make me a bad person, to be one who receives, but does not give back? May be. Something to reflect further on! Read More7 Reply Gene2 months agoGeneYou’re funny, I love your response, especially about your cat Thanks for sharing and I too find it to be a difficult question for to be aware of how well you are loving seems to contradict the selfless nature of Love. 5 Reply Lauryn2 months agoLaurynWhen love goes hand in hand with trust. 5 Reply Papilio2 months agoPapilioI misread today’s question as “When have you LIVED really well?” and reflected on it. When I have lived well, I was in love with someone or something, which has kept my inner light alive. Now I don’t have any clue to the actual question… 7 Reply Holly in Ohio2 months agoHolly in OhioI thought I knew what there was to know about love, until I became a parent. I'm sure many can relate to that. My path to parenthood was different than the paths of most parents. I became an instant parent of three, emigrating from another country... an 8 year old, a 10 year old, and a 13 year old, who came with their father, whom they had only lived with full time for a few years. They were not all related to my husband, either, the eldest had been displaced many times, and they all had qui...I thought I knew what there was to know about love, until I became a parent. I’m sure many can relate to that. My path to parenthood was different than the paths of most parents. I became an instant parent of three, emigrating from another country… an 8 year old, a 10 year old, and a 13 year old, who came with their father, whom they had only lived with full time for a few years. They were not all related to my husband, either, the eldest had been displaced many times, and they all had quite a lot of emotional baggage. My husband, basically, had rescued them. On the first day I promised them two things (and told them so). I would always love them, And I would always be there for them. I have held onto that promise with a fierceness I have never known, through many, many trials and tribulations. I didn’t always do things right. Some of my choices could have been much better. I did the best I could with what I knew at the time. But they have certainly taught me much about love. They rarely call me mom. I never required them to. But when they do it is such a treasure! It is even more of a treasure to see them resolve the issues they brought with them, and to turn into people I both like and admire… people not of my creation, but of their own. They taught me how to love others better, too. My husband and I had quite a rough road at times, but we travelled it together, stuck with each other, and are closer for it and love each other so deeply now. Love isn’t always perfect, at least in the sense that we don’t have to be perfect people to love deeply, devotedly, and sometimes selflessly. That we love… it helps us to grow as we strive to be better for our partner or our children. I’m not sure, but to me, I don’t think love is always harmonious. Harmony is wonderful, but it doesn’t feel like it’s required for a great deal of love. I’m sorry i’m so wordy… I hope you guys don’t mind. I get rolling and my fingers just fly as fast as I think. Read More11 Reply Howie Geib2 months agoHowie GeibI love this! And there are not too many words. I think we are asked much in life. And a great error on my part has been too often defaulting to a position that it is supposed to be easy. Actually it isn’t, at least I don’t think so. Doing the difficult thing brings one close to life in a way that feels like adventure. I like a reach. Your share is remarkable and lovely…thanks so much. 3 Reply lasvistasjeanne2 months agolasvistasjeanneJust beautiful. Thank you. This was the perfect amount of words. 4 Reply Carol2 months agoCarolI find this question impossible to answer but I will share a poem that I wrote over 10 years ago. Love is a word We say it a lot misuse it abuse it forsake it for naught. It’s sometimes a verb An over-used word with feeling deferred and frankly absurdly irresponsible. It’s often a noun subjective in sound objective in speech a wailing, a screech for attention It can be an adjective a modifying force love feast, love-sick love affair divorce. But when it’s...I find this question impossible to answer but I will share a poem that I wrote over 10 years ago. Love is a word We say it a lot misuse it abuse it forsake it for naught. It’s sometimes a verb An over-used word with feeling deferred and frankly absurdly irresponsible. It’s often a noun subjective in sound objective in speech a wailing, a screech for attention It can be an adjective a modifying force love feast, love-sick love affair divorce. But when it’s an adverb it touches my heart lovingly revealing its meaning, its part in my life. For love is illusive inclusive and rare deliberate, decisive egoically bare to the bone Yes, love is a word that we need make flesh a vulnerable stance a powerful chance to make a difference Read More9 Reply Mike S2 months agoMike SIf I am true to the meaning of “loved really well,” which I regard on as a selfless love with no expectation of love in return, I would say this has happened rarely in my life. I have those feelings for my sons, and am just lately been evolving into that agape love with my wife. 7 Reply Carla2 months agoCarlaMy mom taught me “it takes more love to let go, then to hold on.” This depth of detachment led me to a crashing bottom fueled by my alcoholism in less than 9 months (‘85).This relationship was repaired, and I became the daughter my mother needed me to be & God wanted me to be. Twenty four years later, in 2009, I was her dying doula & upheld her wishes in ways my brothers couldn’t. She taught me to love “that” deeply & “well.” 9 Reply DeVonna2 months agoDeVonnaThe purest form of love I’ve ever experienced has been the love I’ve felt holding my own newborn child. I’ve been fortunate enough to felt that love four times in my life, each time in wonder and awe of little creature that God has brought forth from my own body. what a miracle… 7 Reply MelaD2 months agoMelaDI loved really well when I let go of the love of my life. 9 Reply Laurap2 months agoLaurapI know the truth of this deeply. You said it perfectly. Thank you, Laura 6 Reply Mark Piper2 months agoMark PiperIt’s been beat into my brain: God is Love (Deus Caritas est). And I’m not going to disagree. However… flailing Catholic that I am, God may well be love, but God is relationship vis-a-vis the Trinity, too. As such, I have loved well when love is animated by or works together with trust. Trust — be it hope or faith — is outside of my control. When I speak or write an email and I say, “I trust you are well,” it’s the same thing as saying “I hope you are well.” Likewise, when I s...It’s been beat into my brain: God is Love (Deus Caritas est). And I’m not going to disagree. However… flailing Catholic that I am, God may well be love, but God is relationship vis-a-vis the Trinity, too. As such, I have loved well when love is animated by or works together with trust. Trust — be it hope or faith — is outside of my control. When I speak or write an email and I say, “I trust you are well,” it’s the same thing as saying “I hope you are well.” Likewise, when I say, “I believe you can do this,” it’s the same as, “I have faith in you.” Love may be a priori of/for God but for me, love is best when it’s not alone but with trust: trust that love or my expression of love matters, is of value, is communicated well, and received, is helpful, is good regardless of how it’s received. All that to say: I love best when I trust and trust is just as vulnerable as love. There’s your word salad for the morning. Read More7 Reply 1 2 Next » My Private Gratitude Journal Write an entry in your private gratefulness journal Get Started This site is brought to you by A Network for Grateful Living, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All donations are fully tax deductible in the U.S.A. DONATE https://gratefulness.org/content/uploads/2015/03/GX-Gold-Participant-L.png Community Engagement Guidelines Privacy Policy [email protected] Connect with us on Social Media: © 2000 - 2021, A Network for Grateful Living Website by Briteweb