Welcome to the Valentines Day edition of The Real Estate Espresso Podcast.
I’m celebrating Valentines Day with my wife on the beach in Mexico. We take time each year to recharge. Sometimes taking holidays is easier than others. We have both been working really hard over the past several months and even into our holiday, there hasn’t been a day of true disconnect or relaxation for both of us. Project timelines spanning several months or years can mean that a holiday in the middle of a critical time of a project can be problematic. Whether it’s making sure the podcast is loaded and ready for the next day, sending a document to a lender, or dealing with an issue at the office, it seems there is always something requiring attention.
Through the process, I’ve learned that life is a journey. The global independence that the internet affords makes it possible for me to produce shows from my home office, from a hotel room anywhere in the world, or sitting by the beach in the South of France. You might have heard the birds chirping in the background over the past week.
So on this Valentines day, I’m asking the simple question “what is love?” Is it a thing?
The dictionary isn’t quite sure what it is. It’s defined both as a noun and a verb. As a noun, it’s described as an intense feeling of affection.
It is also defined as a verb, as in the sentence “Do you love me?” Or “I’d love a cup of Espresso.”
But even when you describe love as a feeling, the feeling doesn’t just magically happen on its own. It requires some kind of action for the feeling to result. So in that context, I believe love is really a verb. By describing love as a verb, it’s clear that its an action word. Love of any kind requires action.
Love doesn’t just happen. It’s the result of a choice, a choice to love. All persistent choices require commitment, conviction, tenacity, and integrity. Long term decisions require long term commitments. All too often people make decisions based on transient emotional states.
I would not describe myself as someone who is hungry. But I was hungry last Tuesday around 5PM. That was a temporary state. I made a short term decision to eat something to deal with the temporary state. I didn’t make any life altering decisions because I was hungry at that moment in time.
Loving successfully requires commitment to loving. It requires energy. The feeling of Love, now we’re talking about the noun is one of those basic human needs like Oxygen, water and food. Without food you can starve. Without oxygen you can suffocate. Without love, you will die. The short term replacements for love like lust are just not the same. They’re hollow and empty.
Love can’t persist without commitment.
