What is Love?

Some years ago, a well-known singer titled a song, “What Does Love Have to Do with It?” The lyrics proceeds to say that love is just a secondhand emotion! This is the farthest from the truth. Love has everything to do with the state of our health and wellbeing. The acronym “ILL”, denotes I Lack Love.

 Many who are stricken with illness, emotionally and or physically, have allowed hatred, resentment and bitterness to erode their health. The body generates toxic hormones when the mind and spirit is held in a state of bitterness and resentment. When we make a conscious decision to forgive and love unconditionally, our spirit, mind and body is filled with joy, peace and love.

According to a growing body of scientific research love come with some solid health benefits:

Love makes you happy. Love increases dopamine, the feel-good brain chemical associated with reward. Love is a mood intensifier, so people feel extremely positive and very appreciated. 

Love ease anxiety. Loneliness can hurt your health from increasing inflammation to activating pain centers. “The feeling of loneliness stimulates anxiety, cortisol and adrenaline levels rise when people feel insecure and threatened. Being in love and feeling close to another person can mitigate anxiety.

Love helps you live longer. Research has shown that married couples enjoy greater longevity than singles — making “’til death do us part” even more of a commitment. Studies suggest those long-life benefits are largely explained by consistent social and emotional support, better adherence to medical care and having a partner who can hold you accountable to healthy lifestyle behaviors and steer you away from bad ones. Married couples have been found to have lower rates of substance abuse, lower blood pressure and less depression than single peers.

Love is a healer.   God is Love. The key to healing and wholeness comes from the One who created us. Without the presence of True Love (agape love), there’s a large void in a person’s life. I will refer to this void as a “God size hole”. Many people attempt to fill this “hole” with people, food, drugs, alcohol, material things, money, power or fame. My personal identity and relationship in Christ fills, the God size hole, I can truly say that there is no hatred in my heart! I love people unconditionally, the agape kind of love.

 Love is eloquently described and quoted by the great Apostle Paul: Love suffers long andis kind; Love does not envy; Love does not parade itself, Love is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, Love does not seek its own, Love is not provoked, Love thinks no evil; Lovedoes not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails!
 

To Your Health and Happiness,

Dot High-Steed is a Life Coach, who has over 25 years of experience in health/wellness, business and education. 

Dot may be reached at: 

oneononewdot@yahoo.com 

https://www.successunlimitedwdot.com  

https://www.facebook.com/success2050