Have you ever wondered if it’s possible to love someone you hate? I mean, why the hell would anyone want to do that?! Well, read on. There’s a really important reason why.
Loving someone you hate. It’s probably one of the most difficult concepts to grasp. And probably one that seems illogical. Why on earth would someone want to love a person they hate? And what does “loving them” mean?
Let’s deal with the first question first. Loving a person you hate means you desire peace over personal conflict. It means you desire freedom over self-imposed restraint. And it means that you desire to live and operate from a place of unconditional love — even toward those whom you believe may not be deserving of your unconditional love. Why? How can that be?
Well, my darling, it’s because hate takes from you rather than gives to you. Hate for someone eats at the core of your Spirit — not theirs. Hate condemns you to a tit-for-tat mentality and keeps you operating from a place of spite and fear. And hate keeps you connected to negativity rather than allowing you to rise above the negativity and choose peace — your peace. Personal peace. And, thus, personal freedom. The freedom to love without condition. The freedom to walk through life with your compass pointed toward your higher and best self and your truth — your truth that is love.
Many years ago, I was dealing with a horrifying situation that was challenging the very core of my being and my essence. I was dealing with a person who was very easy to hate. He made it easy. And that’s exactly why I knew I needed to dig very deep within myself and choose to love him, and to do so without condition. If I didn’t love him without condition, then I would have allowed him to control me and break me down. And then I, too, would have begun to operate from fear rather than from love and a deep love for all involved. I would have given away that which I held dear to me and know to be true: I am love. I operate from love (even when it’s hard to), and no one can take that away from me. I will always choose the path of love — even when I’m afraid to — and perhaps, especially when I’m afraid to.
You see, we are all born to be loving, kind human beings. We are all born to attach to love as the source of survival, and as we grow, we all continue to need love to prosper. But for some, most of us actually, as we move through our lives, we learn that love — unconditional love — is illusive, scary, and hard. Most everyone, at some point in life, begins to have conditions placed on the love they receive, and in turn, they learn to place conditions on the love they give. Our switch to placing conditions happens without conscious thought, and there’s usually no malice intended. It happens because we and others are afraid, and when we operate from fear, the love we give becomes predicated on the love we receive (or the way it is given and received).
But back to the question, what does “loving people you hate” mean?
Loving someone without condition does not mean that you sacrifice yourself, accept or tolerate poor treatment.
You do not. I repeat, you do not. It is quite the opposite. Read on.
The gift of loving, without any conditions — especially for someone we hate — the gift is for us. Not for them.
When we love the people we hate without condition, we are able to let them go and let them be who they are. Their actions have less of an effect on us because we know how they move through the world; we can anticipate how they may respond and we stop expecting them to act or be something different — we stop placing conditions on them to be someone they are not. We accept them for who they are — even if we don’t like what they do.
When we choose to hate someone, the reason we hate is because they stir up feelings within us that aren’t comfortable. We generally hate a person’s behavior, not them as human beings. Their behavior challenges our very core and all things good in our world. We hate because we dislike or are afraid of how the person makes us feel — or because of the things we think they make us do.
Now here’s where the magic begins. The lesson. And the gift.
We hate because we don’t realize the lesson they are here to teach us. The gift they are here to provide. We hate because we don’t realize the blessing and the opportunity they are giving to us to grow, to expand our awareness of ourselves and others. As crazy as it sounds, these people, if you let them, will teach you how to love more freely, more deeply, and without condition.
I rarely quote the Bible in my posts, but it seems appropriate here: “forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34 (King James version). Even though you may think they know exactly “what they do,” they are likely operating from fear and/or personal ignorance; they are likely not as evolved, and they just don’t know it.
So the outcome, my dear, is forgiveness.
The day you choose to forgive them, to love them, is the day you choose to retain the power over yourself, your feelings, and your decisions. You determine how you choose to walk through the world and treat others. The day you choose to love them is the day you step even closer to living and operating from your best and highest self.
I choose love. And I choose to love the people who do things that would otherwise make them easy to hate. I choose to love. By doing so, I honor myself. I honor the other parties. I honor my spirit. And I honor all that is good in the world and in humanity.
As you journey through life, please remember that there’s meaning in everything and everyone. Search for it. I promise you will find it. I promise. If what I’ve written here isn’t clear or if you need help finding the lesson, the meaning, and the healing in your current situation, write a comment below or submit a request here; it would be my honor to support you and help you find the meaning and the healing you so deserve.
I’ll end with a quote that sums it all up.
“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”
~Mahatma Gandhi
Until next time, my friend,
P.S. If you make the switch to loving the people who do things that would otherwise make them easy to hate, the changes in your inner and outer world will be rather impressive. You see, when we operate from love and from the right place within us, things have a way of working themselves out and doing so in short order. If both parties are stuck in fear and negativity, then both will operate from this place, and the cycle of hate, fear, and reactivity will continue indefinitely. However, if at least one person chooses love and can operate from his or her higher, God-like self, then the cycle can and will stop. It has to. As the Gandhi quote above says, “This is the divine mystery supreme.” And, my friend, it is truly amazing when you see it in action. Awe-inspiring, profound, and humbly amazing. I can’t wait for you to experience it for yourself. xoxo
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