Why Not do this?
What if one decision…
Made every other decision easier?
What if there were one principle…
That quietly corrected hundreds of others?
Perhaps…
There is.
LOVE FIRST…
THEN DO AS YOU WILL
(Why Not?)
There are ideas that survive centuries because they continue proving themselves.
One such thought has quietly traveled through history.
“Love…
Then do as you will.”
Simple.
Powerful.
Life changing.
When I first encountered these words attributed to Saint Augustine, I paused.
Not because they were religious.
But because they appeared to describe one of life’s deepest operating principles.
Whatever comes first…
Shapes everything that follows.
LOVE FIRST
Notice something remarkable.
The statement does not begin with rules.
Or fear.
Or obligation.
Or guilt.
It begins with love.
Why?
Because love naturally governs what follows.
When genuine love is leading…
Our choices begin changing without force.
Life itself becomes different.
DID YOU FORGET SOMETHING?
This morning…
You woke up.
So did billions of others.
Most of us accepted another sunrise without giving it much thought.
Yet there was never a guarantee we would receive today.
That alone deserves gratitude.
Life itself deserves our attention.
The present moment…
Is not ordinary.
It is a gift continually arriving.
WORTHY NOTE
Eternity has no clocks.
Only presence.
Here…
We call it NOW.
LOVE OF LIFE
Life deserves to be loved simply because it exists.
Before accomplishments.
Before possessions.
Before success.
Before recognition.
Love life first…
Then allow everything else to become an expression of that love.
Pause here.
Sip this slowly.
If life begins loving you back…
What greater reward could there be?
PAUSE FOR CAUSE
Slow down.
Notice.
Observe.
Receive.
Gratitude transforms ordinary moments into extraordinary ones.
When appreciation becomes a way of living…
Life begins revealing itself differently.
I WANT…
I NEED
Perfectly understandable.
We all have wants.
We all have needs.
But wants can become tunnel vision.
Needs can become obsession.
Like blinders placed upon a horse…
We lose our peripheral vision.
We stop seeing life.
We only see what we want.
THE RICHIE REVERSE RULE (RRR)
Whenever you become uncertain…
Reverse the statement.
Test it.
Truth has an amazing way of revealing itself through its opposite.
Let’s try it.
Instead of…
Love first…
Then do as you will.
Reverse it.
Do as you will…
Then love.
Something immediately feels wrong.
Why?
Because we have allowed our desires to become our guide.
And whatever we choose first…
Begins choosing us.
WHATEVER YOU GET INTO…
GETS INTO YOU
This may be one of the greatest universal laws ever discovered.
Whatever continually occupies your attention…
Gradually occupies your identity.
Get into fear…
Fear enters you.
Get into greed…
Greed enters you.
Get into resentment…
Resentment enters you.
But…
Get into love…
Love begins shaping you.
The doorway works both ways.
Choose carefully…
What you enter.
LOOK AT YOUR LIFE
Pause for a private moment.
Look honestly at your life.
What have you gotten into?
Your friendships.
Career.
Habits.
Entertainment.
Beliefs.
Attitudes.
Now ask another question.
What have those things gotten into…
Within you?
The answer is usually self-evident.
The beautiful news?
Anything learned…
Can be relearned.
Anything unhealthy…
Can be replaced.
Fresh beginnings remain available.
DEEP WITHIN
Beneath your thoughts…
Your emotions…
Your personality…
Lives your eternal spirit.
Your soul.
That part of you also hungers.
It requires nourishment.
Truth.
Love.
Mercy.
Grace.
Forgiveness.
Hope.
Faith.
These become the bread…
Water…
And breath…
Of the inner life.
FINAL THOUGHT
Love first.
Then allow every decision…
Every relationship…
Every dream…
Every ambition…
Every success…
To flow from that beginning.
Because whatever comes first…
Quietly becomes the author…
Of everything that follows.
Love well…
And life has an astonishing way…
Of loving you back.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
Been expecting you