A Call for Love

By: Jeanine Austin, Ph.D.

Click here to contact Jeanine and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile

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If the metaphysical premise that anything that is not love is a call for love is true, we might reflect on our lives and find that unloving behavior towards us or by us was really just an attempt to love and be loved. If we look closely into any situation we can see that almost all unloving thinking or behavior was a misguided attempt at love.

If we can see all behavior in two broad categories: love or a call for love, we can begin to forgive ourselves and also forgive others. This doesn’t mean we have to tolerate unkind behavior in any way, but this perspective might facilitate psychological liberation for us, especially if we are mired down in judgment, negativity or regret.

I can reflect on my own life at times when people have been unkind and sometimes even cruel to me. When I revisit these situations carefully, I can clearly see that the behavior of the offender was really just a call for love. The same is true for when I have behaved in a love-less way.

Sometimes this cry is deeply disturbed, confused or even pathetic. But if we look closely at that which has been unloving, we can see that it often just a call for love.

©Copyright 2008 by Jeanine Austin, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved. Permission to publish
granted to GoodTherapy.org. The following article was solely written and edited by
the author named above. The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared
by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns about the following article can be
directed to the author or posted as a comment to this blog entry.

Click here to contact Jeanine and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile

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