Say the word ‘love’ and most people imagine couples in love. usually young couples. usually young couples holding hands in that state of euphoric exciting new relationship at the beginning of a journey. we rarely imagine an old couple who have been together for a number of years who are struggling and arguing. we rarely imagine people in one country raising awareness of abuse in another place. we rarely think of a parent cleaning the toilet or a police officer making an arrest. but what is life, all of life, without love? I have witnessed people who are very qualified, working with people who need assistance. the workers looking to serve their own needs for career and success and financial gain. and I have seen, while all duties have been performed, little care has been extended for the actual person. I have seen people achieve great learning and develop great systems while destroying people they have worked with who question them or highlight errors or who simply disagree. I have seen families follow instructions to the letter and do everything in a manner that can be justified legally, who have torn each other apart doing so. love is not just for couples. love is for everything we do. love is for all of life. if we clean toilets without love, chances are resentment might creep in. if we doctor without love, chances are we will forget the person who is suffering the illness and separate the suffering from the sufferer. if we fight for justice without love of justice for all, we risk imposing injustice on others. if we omit love from anything we do, we diminish the act and its impact.

love for others, all others, is pivotal to all of life in everything we do or say. it is only when love is the driving force behind our thoughts and actions that we can analyse, understand, calculate and develop wisely. when love is missing from our motivation or reason, we miss the mark and are apt to create situations or conditions that are less than desirable. love one another. let love be the key motivation of everything we do, say, think and believe. love is the foundation to and indeed the fountain of understanding, connection, acceptance, respect, growth, trust, faith, hope and kindness. it is key to forgiveness, resolution, restoration and unity. let your life be driven by love in everything. make a conscious decision to do and say everything in love and see the joy you will find and the joy you will bring to the world around you. love one another.