In a group therapy meeting not too long ago, I got to lead the group and had to pick the topic. I decided to pick how to speak of the good side of the people in our lives that we came to fix or have better relationships with instead of the usual venting I was getting bored and frustrated with. I truly believe we can only change ourselves, remove ourselves or alter our perceptions – not others.

Yet, there IS a potent contender that can bring on change and is invisible. It’s called love and I include all its derivatives. Love changes us and “them” and therefore transforms relationships. This is the spiritual side of counseling and life that is sometimes bypassed, mishandled or just plain ignored.

Love filters and spreads and infects us all with empathy. It washes away resentments, forgives human frailty and allows compassion to soften our hearts. It can transform your belief system, release you from victimhood and heal all wounds.

We heal by loving ourselves. We can then see the light of all we are connected with and the spirit within where it is housed. Instead of flaws, we observe twists of fate. With love we open our minds as wide as a sky. Rather than seeing others as having relentless obsessions of the mind, we soothe their anxiety by becoming love, holding sacred space for them to unwind and process fear.