What is Love?
Love can be many things. We often experience love as an intense emotion, accompanied by feelings of affection, and pleasure. The great thing about love is that we don’t have a limit on our capacity to love. We are not limited to only loving our partner or family. We experience love in nearly every aspect of our lives and it often shapes our decisions and major life events.
Love Does, is a memoir by Bob Goff about his life as a Christian and shows the power of love in everyday life. The author shares several personal stories and anecdotes of how following his heart and maintaining his faith has helped him live a fulfilling and eventful life. Many of the stories highlight that intense feeling of love that we often experience when we are drawn to person, place or thing. That feeling that seems to come out of nowhere, but calls to us like a lighthouse in the night. For me, it is hard to describe where the feeling arises, but you feel compelled to follow it.
On of my favorite stories from Love Does is the authors multi-year pursuit of his would be wife Maria. For years, Bob tried endlessly to persuade Maria that he was the only man for her. To include making a Valentine’s Day card that was too big for her car and leaving sandwiches under her windshield wipers. It is a reminder that the power of love moves us in ways that makes completely change how we think and behave. That having faith in love and trusting that if you follow your heart, you will end up right where you are supposed to be.
I found this book at a time in my life when I was trying to improve my understanding of what it means to love someone or something. Am I doing this this the right way? How do I know if I’m in love? What changes when you fall in love? These were all questions that I was hoping to have answered. But, as I would eventually learn love requires action; that our love and our actions are more important than studying, head knowledge, or trying to fit in with societies expectations. Through the act of being present and having the faith to allow love into your life the author illustrates how following your heart can guide you towards the things that are most important to you.
Personally, I still struggle with giving and receiving love. Sometimes my judgment becomes clouded with doubt, judgment, and indecision. It’s difficult to know when I am following my heart or impulse. And, sometimes it feels like my heart and mind are in battle with one another. In theory, it is easy to say, follow you heart and all will be as it is supposed to. However, we all know that it’s just not that simple. For me, these stories server as a reminder that love is both powerful and elusive. That love can compel us to perform extraordinary acts, as long as we are open to letting it into our lives.
Favorite Quotes
“Most people need love and acceptance a lot more than they need advice.”
“You know what it is about someone that makes them a friend? A friend doesn’t just say things; a friend does.”
“I used to be afraid of failing at something that really mattered to me, but now I’m more afraid of succeeding at things that don’t matter.”
“Love is never stationary. In the end, love doesn’t just keep thinking about it or keep planning for it. Simply put: love does.”
“Friendship creates a whole new economy. When people realize there’s no agenda other than friendship and better understanding, it changes things.”
If you are interested in checking out this book, I have provided the link below. 😎