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This is my first blog. Welcome and thanks for reading! Here are some of the thoughts that run through my head, though certainly not all, because they are about as extensive as the internet itself! Hopefully some of the things that I think about will ring true and resonate with some of the thoughts and questions you may be having.
Lately I have been learning about how emotions have a job. Our emotions are not facts, and they are not behaviors, and they are not thoughts! But they are message-bearers from our heart of hearts. Their job is to get us to consider and act upon our deeply held beliefs and impressions of things that have happened.
Anger, for example, can motivate us to act towards change in a situation we are not pleased with.
Sadness motivates us to take time and space to grieve our losses, to be kind to ourselves, to consider what’s next.
Anxiety motivates us to protect ourselves.
Now, the problem comes when we have these feelings when we don’t need to — change something, grieve something, or protect ourselves. Learning to evaluate emotions as distinct from facts, thoughts, and behaviors can help!
But that’s what I’m learning about, not what I was thinking about! Here is what I thought:
If feelings have a job, and love is one of the feelings, what is the job of the feeling of love?
Many people know the bible passage about love, about how it is patient, and kind, keeps no record of wrongs, never gives up… etc. I take all of the descriptions of love in that passage to be about laying aside our own needs and desires for the sake of another. I am working with clients right now who are selflessly pursuing adoption of a young lady who continues to cause them grief. But they love her. And they use their love for her as their motivation to put aside their own needs and desires to meet her needs.
So I guess what I’m saying is that love’s job is to motivate ourselves to forget ourselves and put others first. What other feeling– or really anything else–can motivate us to do that? Love is clearly a supernatural thing.
SG
