love provides the mind fortitude and firmness. let’s face it, at times, it is tough to love. the heart and emotions weaken under the circumstances. love becomes a foundation that holds the mind firm to a higher standard than what the heart feels in the moment.

here we find the primary foundational keys: endure, believe, hope.

so many things in life require that we apply endurance. endurance requires the extra mile, going beyond what we want to do, going beyond the moment you think you have expended your last bit of strength. we do it everyday…on our jobs, for our health, for sports, for education, for pursuing success and many more things that we hold in high value.

faith and believing are also common. you and i get up each day and head to work believing we will be rewarded for our efforts. we believe our banks will look after our money responsibly. we believe that when we are sick, we can seek help from the medical profession. we sit down in a seat on an air plane and believe it is going to get us to our destination safely.

and hope…there is not much that we look forward to that does not require that we hope.

these are not strange uncommon concepts. we put them to use in many ways in our life.

why then do we think it strange that they are vital to strong, healthy, vibrant relationships. what’s the drama. it’s not climbing Mount Everest, or running a marathon, swimming the English Channel or investing $1,000,000.

of all the things we do…love can be the richest, strongest, most rewarding thing we do. it will provide the answer to the pursuit of happiness and bring great joy.

we don’t have to over think it.

love will work through issues with another person without attempting to expose the persons fault publicly. there are appropriate steps to take to repair an offence. those should be pursued first. love covers….it doesn’t expose. if legal responsibility must be taken, duty may require we practice tough love but for most issues…exposure should not be your first port of call.

love will believe the best…not the rumours. i have a rule of thumb for my life: if i hear it from the person themselves, i will count it worthy of believing. it’s important to give people the benefit of the doubt. you know, innocent until proven guilty. gossip is deadly. i have had people come to me and say, “so & so said this and that concerning you.” my response is always, ” before i accept that as truth i will talk to them about it”. that certainly stuns the gossiper. it also keeps them from telling me anything more because, i will check it out. i then will ask the person if what i was told true (without exposing the gossiper) and let the person know that if it is true, i am willing to apologise if i am wrong, willing to talk through the issue and attempt to resolve the situation. although, the person is normally shocked, i have been able to resolve conflict, prevent my heart struggling with hurt feelings and most times strengthen the relationship…with both people…the one who told me about the issue and the person who had the issue. if it was not true, i have cleared the question up for myself face to face. preventing a potential division.

choose to believe the best. “i am for you and you are for me”. you can work through the details with this fortitude of faith backing you up.

love hopes…hope has a wonderful way of inspiring us to keep going, to keep trying, and to keep growing.

there will never be the perfect relationship but you and i can hope that we can grow and build strong relationships that are fulfilling, enjoyable and fulfilling.

love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything without weakening.

if you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. you will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.

-1Corinthians

the people in your life are counting on you…change the world for someone…be on their side…show them genuine love.

i am making the second part of my move tomorrow and over the weekend so i may or may not be around for a couple of days…depending on how quickly the Internet gets moved.

i’ll look forward to seeing you again soon,
D