You Love Your Life Homework
ou had to say YES to doing 3 things because you love your life AND you had to say NO to doing 3 things because you love your life.
It doesn’t always feel good to love your life.
This week, Chris had to say NO to hanging out with this girl… because it was the 15th time she had stolen his wallet. The first 14 times didn’t really click for him. It was the 15th time— when he started to love his life. Let’s do the math.
When Chris is not loving his life— he surrounds himself with people who love— that he doesn’t love his life.
Look at how stoked this girl is—
In her mind, a man who doesn’t love his life, doesn’t love his wallet.
On the other hand, when Chris DOES loves his life, he surrounds himself with completely different people.
I take him to wheat-grass communes where we eat nothing but sprouts and do kidney cleanses for four days.
Here’s us with our buddies working out. He’s usually starving, in pain, and complaining the entire time but… that’s how it feels to love your life. In this situation, we’re not doing peaches and cream love. We’re doing tough love. We’re doing— pull yourself thru the mud— manly love.
The Eskimos have 500 words to describe almost any type of snow. The Hawaiian have many ways to describe the surf. The Greeks defined 8 different kinds of love.
Not all love is the same
Let’s add one extra extra sum thing sum thing to your homework assignment. Your homework was to love your life this month—
And, what kind of love are you going to use to love your life?
You can have tough love, like the kind Dora needs for her sister.
You can have soft mushy love, like the kind you need when you’re recovering from an illness.
You can have romantic passionate love.
You can have teacher love to help you learn.
You can have young love— absolutely foolish, silly and innocent.
You can have ancient love— full of understanding, insight and secret wisdom.
What type of love will you use?
Right now, think of one way that you are going to love your life this week. Then, the type of love you need to use to get that done.
For example, I want to be inspired this week— so I’m going to visit the redwood forest— the type of love I need to get this done is spiritual love. Not heavy stable grounded love— but light, expansive, elevating love.
Right now, in your journal, write down one way that you are going to love your life. And, the type of love you need to get it done.
Forms of Love
In martial arts, you practice different forms. In Kung Fu, you can practice the monkey form, or the preying mantis form or the crouching tiger form…
In your homework assignment, you’re practicing different forms of love.
Love comes in many forms.
They don’t all have to be soft and they all don’t have to be hard. You can mix and match.
Obviously, for his own good, meaning his pain and my pleasure— Chris and I aren’t practicing warm fuzzy love. We practice guy-to-guy brotherly tough love.
When we do that he’s surrounded by people who love that he loves his life.
And…! That girl doesn’t have his wallet. I do. I have his wallet.
I’m spending it on things that make his body a better body, his mind a better mind, his heart a better heart, and his spirit a better spirit.
God knows
Remember that verse in the Quran that we learned?
But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And God knows, while you know not.
—Qur’an 2:216
Loving your life isn’t supposed to make you feel good, at first. It definitely has a delayed effect. But it does make your life GOOD.
When your life is GOOD… you will in a short while love your good life.
We love things that are bad for us because they make us feel good at first— but they make our lives bad.
When your life is BAD… you will in a short while hate your bad life.
Please write in your journal. Loving my life doesn’t make me feel good— it makes my life good.
When my life is good, I love my life.
Loving Your Life Is Not Easy
Loving your life is not supposed to be easy. Sometimes it is. Many times, it’s not.
Cher— who our church prayed for to get a job— got 2 job offers. She texted me this week and said she’s been on a roller-coaster of emotions regarding taking one of the job offers. She thought she could just close her eyes and “accept” the job offer. Done!
Nope. Not so fast!
She has to fill our paperwork after paperwork— it’s an uphill climb swimming through red tape— just to accept her job offer. Her text to me says, “I’ve never fought this hard nor put in this kinda effort. Things somewhat came easy all these decades.”
I realized and she realized— that you have to fight to love your life.
When you’re elevating to a higher level of love— it’s not easy. You have to be better for your love to be better.
You loved your life when it was an easy thing to love.
Now, when your life is harder to love— do you want to go back to easy love?
Or do you want your love to be hard as a diamond?
Please write this in your journal:
When it’s the good kind, when it’s real and it’s right…
Love don’t come easy. You gotta fight to love your life.
