Can You Find Love at Work?

I remember a time in my life when I stared in the mirror. Fresh, 16 year-old vision is lost to me now. These days, I hardly notice the mirror. I no longer care for the reminders of my lines and cracks, my fading hair line, or the strange way aging adds hair in out-of-order places.

Recently, while traveling for work, I sauntered by the hotel mirror. My consciousness still the same after all these years, but the face... different. I noticed tired, dad-of-three-kids eyes. I soured my face as I grieved the large furrow that seems to have set up permanent residence between my eyes. I shamefully marveled over the speed of my nose hair growth.

As I looked in the mirror, I remembered times when looked and felt better. When my back didn’t hurt, when I ate better, exercised more… I can remember feeling so lovable then.

 But, I wasn’t. I wasn’t “more” lovable. But, I did experience more love. I experienced more love, because I allowed more love to come into me. When we feel good about ourselves or our life situations, we unconsciously trust in who we truly are. We know that we deserve love, and so it is. In these high times, we experience a tiny window into Truth. The real truth with a capital T.

Think about those days where you are really happy and how beautiful the world looks. How loving you are able to be … So it is simply our illusion of feeling un-love-able that prevents us from taking in love. Wow. Our perception depends on how we view our reflection! Ha. God is funny. In order to see the Divine in All, we have to see the Divine in ourselves. The belief that we are less than or not beautiful enough or not smart enough – the comparative “nots” we have of ourselves - filter our reception of love like a funnel.  

I grew up in East Tennessee - and in the Bible belt, the concept of "Hell" was always defined as separation from God. Now, that I am older, I think about this a lot. We can be with our Spiritual center - with God - here and now while on Earth. Separation from God happens through our beliefs. This is the meaning of Faith. Everyone has Faith. Faith in Love or Faith in Fear. Energy moves up or it moves down and the direction is guided by Faith. Faith in God is faith in Love. Realizing God is realizing your lovability. It’s a trust fall. Somewhere inside of us, we must make the most courageous leap of our life - believing that in the end, it's really all going to be ok. We have to believe fully that we are more than this body suit. We have to hold the essence of our soul as our card of entry - our worthiness.

And, if you don’t have faith, you still believe. Your belief shows up as your life. Because you will become what you believe. This is not an opinion. This is a core tenet of reality. It has been scientifically proven in modern Psychology (self-fulfilling prophesy), Neurology, Physiology, and even at the microscopic level of particle movement in Quantum Physics.

The direction of your intentioned belief changes reality – energetically at the level of molecules and in the most mundane sense (actions taken, career path taken, etc.).

But, finding all those beliefs that filter our world can feel impossible. Finding those beliefs which limit us are not easy. Some are obvious. Others are deeply buried in foggy memories of childhood. Worse, some reside in your Unconscious mind.  

We cannot fix the mind with the mind. Trying to think about “your thinking” as you are thinking the thought creates a mental loop effect, which spins in circles – leaving you with nothing to show for your mental prowess other than the feeling of sinus pressure. It just makes your brain hurt.

No. Our work to reclaim our birthright begins with the heart. Our “Return to Love” as Marianne Williamson would say - begins with your feelings, not your mind, and therefore through Grace – an honest submission to love.

The work from here is iterative. We do it every. single. day. We do it over and over and over.  

Here’s one practice you can try.  

1. Try to act with complete love in your next interaction. Act without agendas. Act only to give love and to serve. Stay seated in yourself. Don’t give love sacrificially. Just give love and be love honestly. You could be in the bank, at the drive-through line, or at the dentist office. Just go all-in. Be love.
2. For most of us, this will go quite well. And, at some point after we have congratulated ourselves for being so loving, we will forget the experiment and return to those voices in our head. We will return to our worries. We will return to our day or evening plans. Try again in your next interaction. Do it again. Be love.
3. Then watch. Watch the first thought that comes in your head pulling you out of love and examine it. Examine the thought. Where does it come from? Who said it? Now ask “What belief is it that drives this thought?”. If your first thought was a criticism of her dress, then what is your belief? If your first thought is that you need to stop the conversation because it has gone on too long, then how did you learn the rule? What is the belief? What is the belief behind the thought? Find the root of the belief.
4. Finally, ask the Universe, God, Source, your Angels … ask for their help to let that belief go and to help you stay in the space of Love. Try again… rinse and repeat.

Try the test. Give it a Go. And, help us to make the Movement, Move.

Cheers, Dr. Ryan Pride

Dr. Ryan Pride may be insane. He, and his co-founder, Sheila Pride are attempting to change the world, by changing how work works. We believe that people can love one another at work and develop community networks where people of all faiths and all traditions can come together to help one another improve, grow, and connect. We are all One. It's time to start working that way.