"We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection." ~Dalai Lama
Let this sink in for a little while. Think about being deprived of affection. Having no one to hold you, no one to affectionately greet you at the end of your day, not even a beloved pet.
Now, think about the first time you fell in love. Can you remember the thrill, how you counted down the hours and minutes until you could be together again? Do you remember how your heart skipped a beat every time you heard your beloved’s name? Ah, the power of love.
Think of a tiny newborn with no one to love it, caress it or calm it when it cries. What happens to that newborn when it grows up? Do you think that child becomes a loving and caring adult? Or would that child grow up to be an adult who finds affection hard to accept? I think that the latter is more likely.
Researchers are finding that babies who are given affection are more able to cope with stress and less likely to suffer from depression. They also have good self-esteem and coping mechanisms for dealing with life.
I’ve heard that if you want an affectionate cat, you should adopt from a home that showered the kittens with lots of love and attention. This makes sense to me. You get what you give, right?
I learned a long time ago in reading Marianne Williamson’s book, A Return to Love, that all emotions can be traced back to two: love and fear. We are all making choices to operate out of these two in everything that we do.
Think about this the next time someone approaches you in anger: What emotion are they acting out of? Does it make it easier to respond to this person when you realize that the base emotion of anger is fear?
I have had issues all my life in dealing with anger – whether it was mine or someone else’s. It makes me very uncomfortable to feel anger, especially when it is directed at me. I much prefer to keep the peace, and think that most people feel the same way.
Bring on the L O V E!
