All You Need is LOVE!

“To improve is to change. To be perfect is to have changed a lot.”         ~ Winston Churchill.

"All you need is love, love,
Love is all you need!" - Paul M. & John L.

Both The Beatles and Churchill are right! And both are Brits...hmmm.

I remember the amazing feeling of falling in love with Peter. Our late night talks. Frisbee in the park. Singing in the car. Cuddling on the couch. Valentines Day surprises. Meeting each others families. We wanted to spend all our time together.

One evening, after enjoying Chicken Almondine at our favorite Kensington restaurant, two elderly ladies called out to us as we were leaving. Our coats had been totally forgotten. I dreamily came back to pick them up and overheard one lady saying to the other, "Don't mind them dear, they're in love!"

I was in a 'love bubble' for months and even though I had CFS at the time and it was still undiagnosed, the fear was just not there. But those bubbles don't last forever (unfortunately). And perfect love is something found in God alone. The Bible says, "There is no fear in love, perfect love cast out fear." So how can I come to understand the depth of this so it totally changes me?

Enter Wendy. We've been friends since we were 10 (almost 40 years now). Even though we live over 2000 km apart, there is a bond between us that compresses this distance. One of our traditions is to share 'personal goals' on New Year's Day. As I was telling Wendy about my desire to understand God's love better this year, I reminded her of our Sunday School days at Clearbrook M.B. When we were about 12 years old, we had a scripture memory challenge that showed our true competitive natures. Amazingly, both Wendy and I memorized the same number of verses (50) and won cross necklaces (I still have mine). I thought it might be a great idea to get our aging minds in shape again and threw down the gauntlet. She immediately picked it up. So, 50 verses on love (we each pick 25), memorizing one a week (with two weeks off).

Now I recognize this discipline is important and am reminded of Bruce Lee who said, "As you think, so shall you become." But this is seriously tough. As I've been working on the first verse this week, I realize I have acquired a new dysfunction - MFB (Mush For Brains). I haven't attempted anything like this since university when I spent hours memorizing my biology texts.

So I'm going to soak myself in perfect love for a year and see if any of it permeates my thick skin.

"The greatest science in the world; in heaven and on earth; is love." ~ Mother Teresa

CHANGE

It happens. Whether you want it to or not. Change is something you can control or it can be a runaway train, taking you on a frightening ride with no guarantees as to how it will end.

Right now, I just want to look at the change we have control over. Specifically changing ourselves and our character. As I'm working on my novel, this is one of the essential aspects of the main characters. Do they choose change as a result of the circumstances around them? Are they so set in their way they will never change?

When I was in Grade 7, I decided to re-invent myself. Have you ever done this? Looked at who you were and decided you could be better - way better? Well, I had been in the same clique of girls from Grade 1. We did everything together and were bound by a mutual love of academics and athletics. But I was a follower. Two of the girls made ALL the decisions for the group and I was tired of it. So one recess, while we were outside "taking orders" for our activities that day, I stood up and outlined a plan for what I decided I would do during recess and lunch. Everyone was silent. The two girls looked at each other, a bit jaw-droppingly stunned. Then they shrugged, turned to me and one said, "That sounds great. Let's do that instead." And THEY followed ME.

That moment changed the course of my life. I realized that if you have enough self-confidence to risk rejection and are willing to go it alone if need be, people will follow you. But more than that, I began to like the person I was becoming. I decided to change many of my characteristics that year and it was one of the best years of my life. Going from 12 to 13 for a girl can be pretty traumatic. For me, it was transformational. I started to like just being with myself. I set personal goals, to try to understand the essence of truth, knowledge, love... I took a keen interest in others and started my life-long passion of trying to find out what makes people tick (my God-complex :). I was no longer afraid to say "No!" to my peers when I didn't want to do something, no matter how influential the group was. This saved me from alot of trouble later on.

Have you ever deliberately decided to change yourself? Or to change your focus in life? What has been the most dramatic change that you have had control over?