WEAVING TRADITIONS by Karen Crane
“The only choice is between love and fear. Choose love.”
Thirty years ago, when I first heard this, my heart sang out, “Yes!” and I decided then and there that choosing love would be my path. My personal mantra became, “No matter the question, love is the answer.”
Today, I believe this more than ever. I have learned that the path of love is not always easy to identify or walk, specially in today’s business, social and political climate. It might look like the bad guys are winning, but, on the contrary, exactly the opposite is true. The chaos demonstrated in these situations is only evidence that, at last, the ugly is rising to the surface where it can be seen, evaluated and purged. The ugly mongers have come out of the woodwork, where they have quietly lived for a long time, to create a show of force, hoping that it will change the tide. But it won't. Love IS winning. To see this for yourself, you just need to choose love. After all, the only choice is between love and fear, right? So, choose love.
But what does love look like? Ever since I decided to always choose love, this question has become central to my life. When I see something that seems unloving, I ask "in this situation, what would the loving action look like?" Often, the answer doesn’t jump right out, but I still stand in this question. Believing that an answer will come has shown me some unexpected realities. For one thing, asking the question, “what does fear look like?” is a much easier question to answer and is often a good place to start. For example, if I am considering how to deal with a situation with my friend or partner, it is pretty easy to identify what I am afraid will happen. So, once I can identify my fears, doors are opened to identify the loving action. For example, perhaps a friend has asked me to include someone new in a meeting, and I don’t want to do it. Considering this fear, I discover that I am afraid the new person might be more interesting than me and that I will lose something by including them. So, what does love look like here? It isn’t really obvious. There are possibilities, options. Perhaps I can manage my potential “left behind” feelings and simply include them. Perhaps I can discuss my fear feeling with my friend and we can come to a satisfying agreement about the meeting. Perhaps, after discussion, I still don’t want to do it, and I have to keep considering. Perhaps, perhaps… if I am truly committed to choosing love, I will keep thinking until I no longer feel fear.
Staying curious about the look of love, and keeping a door open to possibilities, is a critical practice in choosing love. Often, discovering the love path takes time and requires deep consideration, but answers can come, even in seemingly impossible situations. One time, I was discussing something I felt very strongly was on the love path, and I simply wouldn’t/couldn’t change my mind. I stayed open to what Lindsay Pera calls “the Third Door,” and after a few days of thinking, the other person had a complete change of heart and mind. We were both happy with a new solution that was totally based on love.
Sometimes, answers don’t come, and I still stand in the question of "what would love look like here?” My certainty that there is an answer has led me to some amazing and surprising results, ideas that were not evident initially. That love is the answer is my firm, solid foundation, my starting place. It allows me to live in hope, to embody joy, and to resolve some mysteries. It feeds my curious and creative mind. It teaches me patience and tasks me to keep going. It leads me to peacemaking and to inclusion. It allows me to share living space with my grown daughter and her family. For me, love is the answer even when I don't yet have an answer. Living with some disharmony and holding fast to the question is part of the practice of choosing love. To every question and situation, there is always a loving answer. If you don't see the loving answer at first, keep looking.
Sometimes, personal healing is required before you can see the love path. There are situations when sadness, grief and anger will envelop you, and it is appropriate to deal with those emotions in ways that are healing and true. In fact, engaging in the practice of choosing love will bring up these emotions and show you where to focus your personal healing work. Choosing love is made possible by growing and maturing, by healing your hurts and by truly seeing the world as it is. But within the practice of choosing love, these thoughts are usually based in fear of outcomes, both past and future. It is valid to notice the emotions, but don't give them power by describing them, thinking about them, or spending any time pondering the "why" of it. Instead, focus your thoughts and feelings on how to bring love to that particular situation, and think only of the love. Bombard the situation with the vibration of love, and you will be contributing to the overall healing. Projecting love from your heart is very different from loving (or forgiving) a specific person. When you project love from your heart, you are actually changing the vibration and energy of the world... fueling the love energy by adding to it... making a difference in some small way. If all of us did this, the world would change.
Love is a way of being and isn't dependent on a result. It is a vibration that you come into resonance with, like a tuning fork, and your love vibration contributes to the growing love song that is enveloping the planet. One of my favorite love path practices is to envision a vast River of Love flowing through the ethers, just above our heads. When I need to feel the love, I raise my hand so that it is submerged in the river. I open my own energy to allow the love vibration to flow into my hand and move into my whole body. I become part of the River of Love and sense my whole being raised into the vibration of it.
How does love become an instinct? How does it become second nature that love is your "go-to" response? It takes practice, of course, but even more importantly, it takes intention. It takes a decision on your part that you will always choose the love response. It takes believing at your core that every response can be traced to love or fear, and that you have decided to choose love. You have decided that every time, you will choose love. Your intention is always love. Once this happens, you will be given many opportunities to practice this intention, and you will get better and better at it. Over time, you will forget your intention less frequently, and you will find the love response with more ease. Love WILL become an instinct.
Love or fear? Which do you choose? The circumstances of today offer so many opportunities to dance in fear. Choose love. Choose small things that really make a difference in your own life. What will you eat today? How will you help a friend or neighbor? What will make you smile? Will you exercise? Will you tell someone you love them? Which people will you empower? Will love choices support your sacred business choices? These are the things that make a difference in your life today, and you are totally in control of them. Do it for yourself, and do it to contribute to the whole. Choose love. Please, join me and so many others, and choose love.
ABOUT Karen Crane
Karen Crane is an empowerment mentor with a focus on helping others express their Luminous Soul in all they do. As a Lifestyle Alchemist, Karen's passion is sharing tools that support women to transform their lives. Spirituality, living from love, and a Divine Feminine mindset are at the core of her coaching and teaching. Her spiritual marketing background has led her to work with female entrepreneurs transforming the face of their businesses. Her transformational tools resonate deeply with the new models of leadership and online business.
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