I Choose Love First

Recent events have had me reflecting on the emotions of fear and love, what they mean, and how we experience them. In spite of all that is going on at the moment in our world, it seems to me like it is easier to feed into fear, than it is to look for the positive in things. In fact, from observation I have come to believe that fear it is our default emotion in most cases, and because of that, even amidst all of the recent goings on, I made a decision, and a commitment along with it to practice choosing love in my life first, regardless of the fearful feelings emerging in and around me as I go about my day now.

As I sit in quiet reflection, I look back on the many struggles I have faced in my own life, and in the lives of the others I know. I notice that it always seems easier for us to sway toward seeking refuge in fear. It is as if we are buying into the belief that fear will protect us, guard us and prevent us from suffering even more than what we already are, or potentially could be.

It seems that we have been wired to believe that fear is what shields us from danger. It has become the primal instinct that fires up when we feel threatened and uneasy about what is, and/or what could come into our experience. We buy into fear so much, yet it is a state of being that actually brings a deep pain in itself, for fear separates us from the truth of our ultimate reality. It creates a misalignment with our own oneness, and from the essence of who we really are energetically. Fear disconnects us from our truest nature which is ultimately seated in love, trust, peace, joy, surrender, abundance and the knowing that all is always really and truly well in the greater scheme of things, from the perspective of our Soul and the Universal wisdom that governs all things.

I have practiced choosing fear....extensively. I am an expert in fear. I could write the book on it, and maybe I just will one of these days! Not too long before I made the commitment to choose love, I was practicing choosing fear extensively too, and although both emotions have the potential to sting, burn and ache, I have found that choosing Love, although somewhat difficult to begin with when you are used to basking an states of fear and separation, does bring a great deal of relief in its wake.

So what does it actually mean to choose love? The truest expression of the emotion is a feeling based in it's highest state of Universal Love. Love at this level has nothing to do with romantic love. This is a form of love that can only be accessed and experienced in the full surrender to trust, knowness, and the fearlessness that comes when you truly align with, and connect to the deeper, spiritual, non physical Soul part of you. This part of you is the real and unconditional Source of your well being, joy, abundance, truth, and is ultimately where your 'being-ness' is rooted. If you don't believe me, then try aligning with it, and see for yourself how drastically you and your life will change.

Experiencing alignment for yourself is the only way you can truly feel love at this level. It is there always, you just have to line up with it. The fact that we can even feel pain, fear, hurt, illness and any other emotion or state of being that is negative in nature is evidence that the Soul part of us exists. It is in the misalignment from that true part of our nature that brings forth the states of pain that emerge from the separation of who we really are in essence. If you are new to this, and want to know more about alignment with Soul then please see my article post 'Eleven Ways to Connect with Soul, Even I you are not Spiritual' for easy ways to create alignment and purpose in your life, without the overhaul.

Universal love is based in compassion, and when you feel it you really know, understand and accept that you and the others around you are part of a greater scheme. You are aware that we are not just physical in nature, we are also energetic, spiritual beings moving toward expansion in the evolutionionary progression of our Universal consciousness. We are all expanding in our choices, desires, freedoms and bondages as we move through the school of life in our experiences and our karmas, all the while working within the Universal Laws that govern this world and others.

True compassion also means you understand that not all suffering is bad, that it is an essential part of the human experience from which new desires that drive us forward in our evolutionary progression and expansion emerge from. It is not necessary for suffering to be a part of expansion one you reach a certain level of awareness, but in the beginning of the growth of awareness yes, it is necessary to propel us in our consciousness to seek out and reach for higher states of consciousness such as love, joy peace and oneness. It is only from experiencing the unwanted, that we can truly define what we do want to experience. This is how creative desire, and as a result expansion of consciousness is born from it.

This leads me to say that Unconditional Love is born from the awareness and understanding of the above, in the knowing and understanding of Soul, and that struggles and challenges are a beautiful part of the expansion of Soul. Ultimately the greater the suffering, the greater the birth of desire for it's opposite, thriving, wellness peace joy and satisfaction can be too. The greater the hurt, the greater the opportunity growth and expansion.

The other side of unconditional love is knowing that we have free will. The Universal Law of Free Will is one of the most important universal laws that supports the expansion of soul and evolutionary progression as a result. Free will gives us the right to choose, and because of that we are truly free, even if we do not know it. We are so free that we can choose bondage if we want to, and in many cases most of us in bondage as we lean toward fear instead of love. Free will states that we have the right to choose, and it is from the result of our choices that our life circumstances emerge. These life circumstances become the Souls school room, where we play out our karmas and interactions with others, mingling and creating new desires, new challenges and new opportunities for growth as a result. Free will is so powerful that even in the belief that you do not have the power to choose you are making a choice. Your ability to choose is your greatest power. It is time to know it. It is time to use it. It is your birthright!

I invite you to try using your power to choose love over fear now. When you choose love first you let yourself off the hook of having to control outcomes, situations and even people, no matter who they are. This can be challenging at first, especially when you hold others, and their behaviour accountable for your own happiness. However, when you chose to make your own happiness your own inner job by choosing love first, you can and will see a drastic change in the state of your relationships when you do. Ironically, it is frightening when you begin choosing love first. It means relinquishing control of situations, people and outcomes. It means letting yourself go with the flow, and I promise you when you do, relief you find is immeasurable....certainly greater than that of feeling you are in control, because on the other end of that grasp for control is the equal measure of fear that one day it will escape your grip.

Control is of itself is an act of fear, it is an ego driven need based on a belief that the thing you want to control will leave you. Unconsciously, your fear of loss is ultimately what pushes the thing away from you in the end. Everything that you fear losing, when you let go of the control of it will actually move closer to you when you let go of your grip and go with the flow, because energetically you are no longer repelling the thing you desire from your experience. This is the beauty of letting go, it doesn't really mean you lose anything, it just means you are choosing to leave yourself more open to receiving and allowing things to come closer to you on the contrary. Your energy becomes open, expansive and more allowing of the things you desire to flow effortlessly into your experience, as oppose to you willing it all to happen through effort and force.

It is time to let yourself off the hook and let love in. Stop worrying and you will be filled with peace, no matter what. This attitude and choice can be applied to any situation you are facing in your life, and never mind the chaos we all face collectively of late, there is still peace to be found in that too when you look for it. Think of how communities are pulling together to support and help each other. Think of the opportunity you now have to retreat from the world a while to reflect and turn inward. Think now of the chance you have to draw on your inner resources how you can truly choose how and what you focus upon, that is your greatest power ever.

Turn your face to the Light. You will feel better inside and it will start to reflect outwardly, affecting all others around you. There is enough fear, anxiety and frustration going around, let's infuse that with greater doses of love, trust, compassion and positivity. I've learnt that no matter how tough a situation we face, and no matter how much the fear stings that there is always a place in you that you can choose love. This is the greatest power we all have. The power is yours and mine and to feel it is just a choice away. It is time to think loving, positive and healthy thoughts and you will see how invincible you can truly be.

So are you ready to get a head start with doing that? Are you ready to start choosing love first? If the answer is yes then join the 'I Choose Love First' Seven Day to Reset with me in The Good Karma Club. Each day will be centred in an individual component of love through a short discussion and powerful meditation and mantra exercise to help us become rooted into more positive vibes through the focus of choosing love first. Each day's meditation and mantra will be centred in a different aspect of what it means to choose love in your day to day life, and the practice will help guide you to bring the experience of love your everyday life in a simple, practical and purposeful way.

Check out the 'I Choose Love First' Seven Day Reset to Love' page for more details and how you can join in.

With love from my heart to yours, Om Namaste Ashleigh