Fearlessness

Here is a story from One Minute Wisdom by Anthony de Mello which moved me very much:

Fearlessness

"What is love?"

"The total absence of fear," said the Master

"What is it we fear?"

"Love," said the Master

Notice where you are afraid of love and what you substitute for it. Are you choosing control instead of love? Are you choosing to think of people as commodities rather than beings to relate to on the basis of genuine love? Are you choosing to seek to erase boundaries rather than loving another by honoring that person's boundaries? Are you choosing to try to merge with another, to possess another, rather than to accept another for what he or she truly is - in other words, to love that person for his or her own sake rather than how you can use that person?

Love does not cling or grasp. Love accepts the other, honors the other, respects the other. Most important of all is love for one's own self. This is not the same as gratification or indulgence. Rather it is about accepting who and what we really are without judgment and then making decisions that are truly in our own deep best interest. When we do that, we are able then to love others from that deep place within where we truly love and accept ourselves.