Reg
08-05-2007, 07:24 AM
*To love You Must Free Yourself of Labels*
*Love Involves Responsibility*
The love of humanity is the natural outgrowth of love for a single individual.
For only a deep relationship offers "the adventure of uncovering the depth of love, the height of
our humanity. It means risking ourselves physically & emotionally; leaving old habit patterns and
developing new ones; being able to express our desires fully, while sensitive to the needs of
others."
Through loving a single person, Herbert Otto feels that one acquires enough strength to assume
the responsibility for the community of man.
This, it seems to me, is the essence of loving another, to assure them that we are dedicated to
their growth, to the actualization of their limitless potential. ... For real love is dedicated to a
continuous learning.
I was amazed to find that when I did get the courage to form a relationship, I actually became
stronger. I acquired two minds instead of one, four hands, four legs, and another's world. in
joining forces with someone, I got twice the strength to grow, with twice as many alternatives.
Now, it's easier for me to love others. I am stronger and am less afraid.
On any day you can be taken on with energy, enthusiasm and a determination to make it one of
the best days of your life.
Love is communication.
Love in marriage or any close relationship is the process of growing hand in hand, but separately.
Separately, because it's impossible to expect that two individuals, even in love, will grow at the
same rate and in the same direction.
Love is always changing and always learning. Love offers the greatest flexibility.
It's a matter of accepting the person unconditionally for what he is at the moment, realizing that
what he is today is not what he will be tomorrow. A lover is, then, constantly watching, listening,
waiting, feeling, adjusting, readjusting & changing. if two people grow apart in love, it is usually
due to the fact that one or the other refuses to grow or change.
In fact, love only acquires meaning only when it's shared.
But love goes beyond hope. Hope is a beginning. Love is forever.
*Love Recognizes Needs*
Man's basic psychological needs are these. He requires to be seen, recognized, appreciated,
heard, fondled, sexually satisfied.
Each individual seems to be far too busy these days to stop and look at or listen to anyone, even
his own family.
If you love someone you will look at them carefully. Each day they are changing through a
beautiful, gradual process which you will surely miss if you do not learn to watch.
Perhaps if we listened to another person, truly listened, we could hear his joy or his cry. Love
listens. Love hears. Love touches, fondles. Physical love is necessary for happiness, growth &
development. *Man needs to be touched.*
Love is not sex, though sensual gratification in varying degrees is always a part of love.
Love needs freedom. ... We cannot force others into our way; we can only encourage them to find
their own way.
He must be free to go his own way, in his chosen manner and at his special rate. he must be free
to make his own mistakes and learn from them what he can. Our love is there to give him
sustenance, the strength to continue seeking securely, in joy, and offer him the day-to-day
encouragement he will require.
He has his path and love encourages him on his way, even if his path does not intersect with our
desired path. ... I am simply suggesting that man must listen to his own "drummer" or he will be
marched right out of himself.
We are so involved in what must be done that we have no time to do what we will to do. In other
words, we are so busy doing the necessary things in life we never seem to have enough time to
do the important things.
*Love Requires One To Be Strong*
To live in love is life's greatest challenge. ... On the one hand, man may know that only by being
vulnerable can he truly offer and accept love.
To be open to love, to trust and believe in love, to be hopeful in love and live in love, you need
the greatest strength.
Society has little place for honesty, tenderness, goodness or concern.
It's as if they cannot handle perfection, as if it causes them to reflect upon themselves, to move
them to change, the though of which is perhaps too uncomfortable and painful.
If he deals in the world of men he's more likely to come upon selfishness, cruelty, deception,
manipulation and like parasitic actions. ... To cope with what he finds and to still love, he must
have great strength. ... He must dedicate himself to love, be resolute in his love and unwavering
in his love. ... he must see love as the greatest force.
To be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise, the flexibility of
the child, the sensitivity of the artist, the understanding of the philosopher, the acceptance of the
saint, the tolerance of the dedicated, the knowledge of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain.
A tall order!
*Love Offers No Apology*
"...and we ourselves shall be loved for awhile and forgotten. But the love will have been enough;
all those impulses of love return to the love that made them. Even memory is not necessary for
love. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead, and the bridge is love, the only survival,
the only meaning." - Thornton Wilder
"Vulnerability is always at the heart of love."
*Love Involves Responsibility*
The love of humanity is the natural outgrowth of love for a single individual.
For only a deep relationship offers "the adventure of uncovering the depth of love, the height of
our humanity. It means risking ourselves physically & emotionally; leaving old habit patterns and
developing new ones; being able to express our desires fully, while sensitive to the needs of
others."
Through loving a single person, Herbert Otto feels that one acquires enough strength to assume
the responsibility for the community of man.
This, it seems to me, is the essence of loving another, to assure them that we are dedicated to
their growth, to the actualization of their limitless potential. ... For real love is dedicated to a
continuous learning.
I was amazed to find that when I did get the courage to form a relationship, I actually became
stronger. I acquired two minds instead of one, four hands, four legs, and another's world. in
joining forces with someone, I got twice the strength to grow, with twice as many alternatives.
Now, it's easier for me to love others. I am stronger and am less afraid.
On any day you can be taken on with energy, enthusiasm and a determination to make it one of
the best days of your life.
Love is communication.
Love in marriage or any close relationship is the process of growing hand in hand, but separately.
Separately, because it's impossible to expect that two individuals, even in love, will grow at the
same rate and in the same direction.
Love is always changing and always learning. Love offers the greatest flexibility.
It's a matter of accepting the person unconditionally for what he is at the moment, realizing that
what he is today is not what he will be tomorrow. A lover is, then, constantly watching, listening,
waiting, feeling, adjusting, readjusting & changing. if two people grow apart in love, it is usually
due to the fact that one or the other refuses to grow or change.
In fact, love only acquires meaning only when it's shared.
But love goes beyond hope. Hope is a beginning. Love is forever.
*Love Recognizes Needs*
Man's basic psychological needs are these. He requires to be seen, recognized, appreciated,
heard, fondled, sexually satisfied.
Each individual seems to be far too busy these days to stop and look at or listen to anyone, even
his own family.
If you love someone you will look at them carefully. Each day they are changing through a
beautiful, gradual process which you will surely miss if you do not learn to watch.
Perhaps if we listened to another person, truly listened, we could hear his joy or his cry. Love
listens. Love hears. Love touches, fondles. Physical love is necessary for happiness, growth &
development. *Man needs to be touched.*
Love is not sex, though sensual gratification in varying degrees is always a part of love.
Love needs freedom. ... We cannot force others into our way; we can only encourage them to find
their own way.
He must be free to go his own way, in his chosen manner and at his special rate. he must be free
to make his own mistakes and learn from them what he can. Our love is there to give him
sustenance, the strength to continue seeking securely, in joy, and offer him the day-to-day
encouragement he will require.
He has his path and love encourages him on his way, even if his path does not intersect with our
desired path. ... I am simply suggesting that man must listen to his own "drummer" or he will be
marched right out of himself.
We are so involved in what must be done that we have no time to do what we will to do. In other
words, we are so busy doing the necessary things in life we never seem to have enough time to
do the important things.
*Love Requires One To Be Strong*
To live in love is life's greatest challenge. ... On the one hand, man may know that only by being
vulnerable can he truly offer and accept love.
To be open to love, to trust and believe in love, to be hopeful in love and live in love, you need
the greatest strength.
Society has little place for honesty, tenderness, goodness or concern.
It's as if they cannot handle perfection, as if it causes them to reflect upon themselves, to move
them to change, the though of which is perhaps too uncomfortable and painful.
If he deals in the world of men he's more likely to come upon selfishness, cruelty, deception,
manipulation and like parasitic actions. ... To cope with what he finds and to still love, he must
have great strength. ... He must dedicate himself to love, be resolute in his love and unwavering
in his love. ... he must see love as the greatest force.
To be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise, the flexibility of
the child, the sensitivity of the artist, the understanding of the philosopher, the acceptance of the
saint, the tolerance of the dedicated, the knowledge of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain.
A tall order!
*Love Offers No Apology*
"...and we ourselves shall be loved for awhile and forgotten. But the love will have been enough;
all those impulses of love return to the love that made them. Even memory is not necessary for
love. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead, and the bridge is love, the only survival,
the only meaning." - Thornton Wilder
"Vulnerability is always at the heart of love."