Loving Support – Relationship Tip #5

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In every relationship there generally comes a point where the person we care about begins to act in a way that makes absolutely no sense to us. They find a hobby that we simply don’t relate to or they make choices that we can’t understand. It can be any number of things. The question is, how do we respond?

The answer may be one of our greatest opportunities to be an expression of unconditional love – we can choose to navigate beyond our feelings and support the person we love in their choice.

If we react or respond to their choices with anger, disgust or fear, all we show them is that we don’t respect their ability to make decisions.

Everyone desires to feel valued and respected, especially by those they love. So, no matter how greatly we may feel our response is justified, we must always ask ourselves: what matters more – our response in that moment or the overall impact our response will leave on the person we love?

If we feel the decision our loved one is making could be harmful, seek to understand why they are making the choice. Get to the root of the desire, then navigate forward from this awareness. Is it a desire for attention? Are they seeking something else completely?

Above all, it is how each of us choose to respond that will determine if this opportunity will bring our relationships closer together. Be aware in each moment as you navigate through it.

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Relationship Tips 2017

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As we head into 2017, Austin and I would like to select some of our most requested topics for coaching and begin to dive into them on our blog and FB page. At the top of this list – Relationship Support.

Joining together with another person, be it romantic or otherwise, offers unique opportunities to observe qualities within ourselves. We may not always see it this way. Often, we allow our focus to travel to what we desire to ‘change’ about our partner. When we do this, we may not take that step back to understand what opportunities exist for us to grow within ourselves.

The fact is, most highly function and successful relationships are built by two individuals who have little to no desire to change one another. They may not agree with every quality the other chooses to express in each now moment, but changing that quality doesn’t come into discussion. Instead, the couple seeks to understand the quality or simply agrees to disagree and honor the perspective of one another.

For some reason, many of us have created this notion that when we are in a relationship with someone we have to completely and fully align. That if we don’t share exactly the same values, beliefs, desires, etc. that the other either needs to conform or we do in order to move forward. Why?

Many of the closest friends and happiest couples Austin and I have had the honor of meeting with are as different as can be…but they do share one common bond – a deep love and respect for one another. When this exists, all else aligns.

This is our first tip for 2017 – allow yourself to stop over-complicating relationships in life and build from this beautiful foundation — pure love and mutual respect.

~In Loving Service
Amber & Austin

How Can I BE Love?

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We may have been asked this question many times. “Be Love,” sounds nice, but it may also seem intangible. “How can someone be an emotion?”

 This is where each of us have the opportunity to expand our perspective of love

When we place love in a single category, such as an emotion, we are limiting its possibilities. Love is an energy. That energy can invoke an emotional reaction, a feeling, a bond and many other sensations we have come to understand. But, that energy also has the potential to be the very fiber of who we are.

Consider this: when we are connecting to a new skill, such as playing the piano, we consciously choose to practice that skill. It takes dedication, focus, awareness and a desire to be a pianist. We don’t go from playing chopsticks to Mozart in a week. But, as we allow ourselves to expand in our awareness of the piano and the music it generates, we are creating beautiful melodies in no time. The music becomes part of our very soul.

And, so it is with love. When we consciously choose to be love in every moment – to practice it fully by asking ourselves, “what am I doing to express love right now?” – we begin to find our own connection to it. What starts as focused practice, becomes part of who we are.

Love flows through each us in different ways. You might be love by being present and listening to a friend in need of support. Or maybe it’s by placing love energy into the food you cook. It may be a smile and eye contact to a complete stranger at the grocery store. There are countless ways to be love and allow the energy of love to flow through you. But one thing is certain, when you align yourself to this infinite and amazing energy, you feel love in every moment as a result.

Love is something we are, not something we posses. It is an energy we share, not something we control. Love is infinite possibility raised up from the light of the universe. How will you choose to be the infinite possibility love?

In The End, Love Is All That Matters

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My Last Moments With My Grandmother

by Amber Mikesell

Some reading this blog may know that before Austin and I joined together to create A&A Spiritual Concepts and The Meditative Minute, I had my own practice. For those who may not have known, I mention this only because I blogged under the name of this practice as well. Many of these posts have caught attention given recent world events. One in particular has really garnered a great deal of traffic and, as a result, Austin and I thought it might be good to share on this blog as well.

Yours in love ~

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Mar 07, 2015

I’m certain most reading this article have, at some point in your life, lost someone you love. For me, I’ve had the honor of holding the hand of both of my grandmothers as they transitioned from this world to the next. These experiences shaped me in ways I cannot fully explain in a single article, However, there is one moment in particular that continues to call to me to share – more so now than ever.

As I sat with my father’s mother in her final evening, alone in her room, I noticed I could physically feel her fear settle to calm. My grandmother could not speak, but appeared fully alert and aware of her surroundings and me. During the time of her passing I had not yet fully come into my awareness, but I felt her and knew she felt me. Throughout the evening she and I began to ‘experiment’ with this connection and found ways to communicate by way of the energy. As we communicated, sharing gratitude for one another, these words came through stronger than anything I had felt to that point, “In the end, LOVE is all that matters.” After the words flowed through, she and I both began to cry. She felt it as strongly as I did and we both knew it was truth.

You see, dear friends, as I have progressed a bit more in my journey one thing has remained consistent – LOVE is the key. When we leave this world, the energy we generate is the only thing we take with us. It is our choice, in every moment, to determine what energy we want to transition out of this world carrying. My grandmother chose love in her final hours and the transition was beautiful. It is never too late to choose LOVE, as LOVE is unconditional. But the choice is ours – always.

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