Below, read a short personal essay on choosing love over the desire to be right and always following the path that feels most like love.

To Be Love

From the moment I wake up in the morning to the last conscious thought I have before drifting to sleep at night, these words repeat in my head over and over again throughout the day:

I was not put on this earth to be right; I was put on this earth to be love.

I think these words as my eyes gaze upon news articles and social media posts and Reddit comments in which people are arguing over who is right about various topics of the world.

One side argues that masks are the safe and responsible thing to do to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Another side argues that masks are a symbol of government oppression and control and that they don’t truly help anyway.

One side argues that a plant-based diet is best, while another side argues that humans are meant to eat animal protein.

One side argues that this political party is evil, while the other side argues that the other political party is the true evil. (And still, others argue that they’re all corrupt, and it’s merely a choice between the lesser of the evils.)

If you’re scrolling through news sites and social media sites daily, as most of us are, it’s next to impossible not to witness some form of argument in which each side insists they are right.

In these moments, I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

I was not put on this earth to be right; I was put on this earth to be love.

I’m not immune to the belief that I know best and that I am, in fact, right. I have thoughts and opinions that have likely been formed as a result of my environment, my academic background, the news sites I choose to read, and my teachers, mentors, family, and friends, all of whom contribute in some way to my belief systems.

So when I say these words, it’s not a condemnation of anyone else or their beliefs. It’s a gentle, loving reminder to myself.

I was not put on this earth to be right; I was put on this earth to be love.

What does this mean?

For me, it means that when I’m unsure about what to choose between A and B (and sometimes C, D, E, and so on), and when I make decisions about how I show up in the world, I follow the path that feels most like love. It isn’t about making the right decision, because often, I have no idea what the right decision is. Something may feel right now, but twenty years from now, I may find out I was completely wrong. I can’t protect myself against that truth: the truth that I don’t know what the future brings, and I can’t foresee what I may one day learn that I don’t know now.

All I can do in this moment, and in every moment after, is to continue to choose the path that feels most like love.

When I choose whether or not to wear a mask, I ask myself, “What choice feels more like love to me?”

When I choose what food to eat, I ask myself, “What choice feels more like love to me?” (This answer can change daily depending on what my soul needs.)

When I choose who to vote for, I ask myself, “What choice feels more like love to me?”

This doesn’t mean that you and I will both come to the same conclusions. We can both be facing the exact same decision, and we may come up with completely different answers. What feels like love to me may not feel like love to you. And that’s okay. It isn’t about being right, and it isn’t about sameness. We do not have to follow one single route. Our paths don’t have to be identical (nor should they be).

All you can do is follow your own path and follow what feels true and real for you.

Keep following love.

This is also true about making big decisions about where you will live, what job you will have, and who you will spend your life with. We are often faced with forks in the road in which we must make what feels like monumental decisions about our futures. We worry about making the “right” decisions when it comes to our career and relationships and the lives we live.

I was not put on this earth to be right; I was put on this earth to be love.

What if it isn’t about making the right decision?

What if it’s simply about following the path that feels most like love?

For some, love means coming home to themselves.

For others, love means taking a step forward into a world filled with possibilities.

For all, love can be a guiding force that gently nudges you to exactly the place you’re meant to be.

Choose love.

Follow love.

Be love.

When you follow this path, you won’t look back in twenty years and worry about whether your choices were right or wrong.

You will know that you did your best with what you knew, and you made every decision in love.

And that’s all there ever is.

That’s the only true and real thing in this entire universe.

Love.

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For more words on love and daily affirmations to remind you of your unconditional worthiness, be sure to connect with me on Instagram and Pinterest.

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