“Do all things with love.” – Og Mandino 

The one universal truth that binds us all together is our desire for love and connecting relationships.

Love is simply lovely. Love is grounding. Love is what makes us human. Love is a powerful force.  Love, as the saying goes, conquers all.

But what about when loves seem to elude us? Or when we find it and then it changes? Or when our path to love isn’t easy? What about when love doesn’t feel so lovely?

Story About Love, Brazil and Some Crazy Jungle Ceremonies…

First off, let me back up a little bit—about 10 years actually—to my personal story about love, Brazil, and some crazy jungle ceremonies.

I was a serial soul searcher, a guru hopper, chronic newsletter subscriber and eternal spirit junkie.  I was searching high and low, near and far—and still feeling lost in the process. I was asking, but not getting.

My current journey had landed me in Brazil on a wacky spiritual retreat that I wasn’t fully prepared for.

I took this trip based on a strong intuitive nudge to do so, and the advice of several close friends—one being my family doctor. The group I was with would embark on a 2-week long trip to take part in a local healing ceremony which involved the use of a sacramental tea.

To make a very long story short, I became a bit disillusioned with the entire retreat and just wanted to get away and explore a little bit. I wanted to enjoy myself and see Brazil.  I started hanging out with another participant in the group—who also felt a similar disconnect from these long ceremonies.

Now I certainly didn’t go to Brazil to meet someone, wasn’t looking and wasn’t interested.  But there he was—this tall bald guy from Virginia who made me laugh so hard that my stomach hurt. You know the kind of laughing that makes your eyes tear up and that just feels like pure bliss? That is what it was like with John.

If I had to sum it up in a few words—hilarious, childlike bliss and innocence. We laughed, strolled through the jungle hillsides of Brazil and just had fun—which is really what my soul needed. I was coming alive again.

I wasn’t looking for love when I went to Brazil, but…

I wasn’t looking for love when I went to Brazil, but I had a strong intention to have a beautiful gorgeous relationship. My vision and knowing about it was so strong that I attracted my soul mate.

Now there is a lot more back story to the Brazil trip that I won’t go into in this post.  But the main point I am getting at is that as a result of my strong intention to really know and feel love—to CHOOSE LOVE NO MATTER WHAT—my life changed, evolved and grew into what I had always felt was possible with love.

I went to Brazil to find myself, and I found love.

Was it always easy? NO. There were many seemingly insurmountable obstacles to John and I being together and making it work. And 10 years later, that insurmountable love is brighter, stronger and lovelier than ever.

When we make a commitment to choose love—just unabashedly choose love—the universe will answer us.

Does it always show up in the perfect little package we expect? No, not always.  But if our energy and vibration are pure, consistent and true—it will come to us.

Love is our natural state. Love is the truth of who we really are.  Love is our birthright.

John and I had to commit to being an unstoppable, immovable force for our love.

We chose love, and it worked.

In Order to Attract Things You Want in Life, it’s Important to Understand the Basics…

In order to attract things to you in life, it’s important to understand the basics of manifesting or Law of Attraction—which states that we are energy, and we attract to us the dominant energy we put out. Simply, the energy you give is the energy you get back. And your energy is MOSTLY ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS.  So, in order to have more love, the focus is on getting clear about exactly what we want and lining our energy up to attract that in our lives.

If you are looking to improve the relationship you currently have, attract something new or different or simply have more connecting and loving relationships in your life—here are a few key tips:

1. Learn How to Love Yourself First

You can’t attract the love you want if you don’t love yourself first. And loving yourself doesn’t mean being selfish or narcissistic.  It’s just being easy on yourself, knowing you are working on you and being patient.

2. Get Clear About What You Really Want

The clearer you are the better. The universe loves some clarity, so involve all your senses in this step. What will this aspect of love look like, feel like and sound like? I know it may seem silly, but get detailed. Journal about it, and get clear about as many aspects as you can.

3. Dream It

In order to have the kind of love we desire, it’s necessary to get in the dream space about it. Spend a few minutes a day imagining what it will feel like, look like, etc.  Create your own little mind movie about this love.  Even though I didn’t travel to Brazil looking for love, I did often dream about the kind of love I ended up finding there.

4. Notice Your Thoughts and Feelings

This seems like a no-brainer, but since I wrote a book about choice and have studied the process of choosing in depth, I have learned that most people are unconscious about what they choose to think and feel. Once we become conscious observers of our thoughts and feelings—we can then CHOOSE TO FEEL AND THINK IN WAYS THAT DRAW LOVE TO US—rather than push it away.

5. Commit to 30 Days of Really Being Conscious About Your Thoughts, Feelings and Beliefs About Love

Journaling is the best way to do this. If you don’t like writing, then commit to just taking quiet space to think about it, even doing this with a friend.  Again, clarity about what you really think and feel about love is critical. You may discover you actually think love is hard, love isn’t worth it or love always ends in disappointment. You can’t attract love with this energy.

6. Choose to Replace Negative Thoughts and Feelings About Love With Improved Thoughts and Feelings

Notice I said improved feelings, not unrealistically positive feelings. Sometimes where people get off track with manifesting or getting what they want in life, is when they make too big of a change too quickly. Move from the negative feeling to a slightly improved feeling. Work on believable changes in your feelings—it’s not about faking how we really feel. It’s about making small changes in order to get to the bigger life changes (but still DREAM BIG!!).

7. Have Fun, Seek Enjoyment, and Feel Good!

If you just make it your primary goal to choose to feel good and enjoy your life—you will attract good things your way. Plus, you feel good, so it’s a win/win.

Attracting the love you desire into your life is not only possible— but also what you deserve. You are meant to enjoy your life, to feel good and to experience love.

Cheering you on!
In gratitude and grace,
Carrie Jolie Dale

P.S. Please share your love story, or how you may relate to this post. I know the topic of love is deeply personal, but it’s also the most common human bond. I would love to hear more about how you choose love in your life.

photo source vk.com