LOVE Transforms Our Life
I am truly convinced that LOVE transforms our life.
When someone loves us just as we are, it does something positive to our heart. This kind of love communicates that we are accepted and cherished for who we are and for the set of qualities that defines us. I feel there's freedom in this kind of love, because it frees us up to be ourselves in the real sense of its meaning. Best yet, love transforms us into the best version of ourselves. It feels so empowering to be loved in this way!
When I met my husband, he loved me for who I was, but his love changed me into a better me. This month we'll be married 20 years! I am not the same person I used to be since our wedding. Our love has evolved and has transformed each other. It's a gift we have shared all these years.
We still have this gift to give the ones we love. It's not just for romantic relationships. We can also love our kids, our siblings, or a friend, for who they are right now, and that love will change them into who they hope to be!
I love the story of the ten cows. It never fails to remind me how strong the power of love really is!
There was a man who had two daughters: the youngest was very pretty but the oldest daughter was more plain and homely. In those days, the dowry for a regular bride would’ve been one or two cows. For an exceptional bride, maybe three or four cows at most. Everyone in the village knew how much the brides had been bought for. They knew their worth. This defined them.
One day a man shows up who knew this family from childhood. He told the father, he loved the older daughter and that he was willing to offer him ten cows so she would be his bride.
The father accepts the offer, the groom gives him the ten cows and they get married. Nobody in the village understands why anyone in their right mind, would pay ten cows for such a plain bride. The father is convinced he’s done the best deal of a lifetime, marrying off his homely daughter in exchange for ten cows. The groom knows he's the one who's won the deal.
After the wedding something incredible happens. The plain and homely bride knows her husband has bought her for ten cows so this transforms her worth on the inside and it starts to manifest itself on the outside. She had been bought by such a high price, that for the first time in her life, she feels worthy. In her hometown, she didn’t feel appreciated or loved so she felt worthless and plain. But when her husband to be, offered ten cows for her, it deposited such a powerful sense of worth and value on the inside of this woman, that she becomes who she’s always wanted to be: A beautiful, capable, self-confident bride. Love transforms our being because it brings out the best in us.
This Valentine’s Day, let’s not forget to tell those we love how valuable they really are to us and what a blessing they are in our life. When we learn our value, it changes us. It empowers us to succeed and live the life we’ve always dreamed of.
The love others show us, makes us feel worthy and valued. We still have this gift to give those we love. It might be the best one we can offer, because it will far outweigh the flowers and the candy. It will transform someone else’s life! -Happy Valentine’s!
All the best,
Maria A. Mansfield
Author: “Life is Worth Getting Better”
