What Would Love Do?
Moments of (di)stress
The above question popped up on a slide at an online workshop I’m attending on how to deal with the tough challenges in our current lives.
It was another one of these enlightening blitz moments for me.
What a beautiful question, I thought, and what a wonderful way of looking at love. Simply personifying it. And so I chose to ‘she’ her and continued on with my own reflections which, as always, I’d like to share with you.
We are momentarily having to deal with feelings of anxiety, frustration, sorrow and more. A fact.
Having to spend so much time in close quarters with those we love, love less or don’t really like, is a huge challenge. And a breeding ground for conflict.
So, how can we cope?
Taking a breath — and I mean a deep one, through our noses, our lungs, into our stomachs, holding it for a few seconds and breathing out slowly through our mouths – and then asking ourselves,
“ What would love do in this situation?”
offers a plethora of solutions.
Think about it.
It helps us reflect, calm our emotions, and regard our other with gentleness, nudging us to step back and understand better what is happening and why.
This simple question begs us to ask ourselves,
“Is this worth the emotional stress?”
And helps us relativise what is happening while offering us a way out, with a voice which is reconciling.
Asking what love would do, gives us the patience to pause and listen. And through our example we can reign in the bones of contention.
Tone of voice matters in moments of conflict. Expressing how we feel without raising our voices and dishing out blame is the be-all and end-all.
We may believe that what we are saying in a moment of strife and frustration is reasonable, comprehensible… but it is our tone which the others react to, and love knows this. There’s no fooling her.
Ask her…
