Army of Love
Stepping into a new kind of leadership
Aggression and anger and violence is not working. As much as these traits are celebrated in movies, music and on TV, sometimes portrayed as an appealing way of life —they still don’t work, no matter how much they’re pushed. Empires may be built through this method, but in a few generations they fall into nothingness. Aggression is an illusory kind of power that not only leads to nothing, but boomerangs back on the self never leading to happiness or sustained success.
A revolution of Love
Every year, $2.5 trillion dollars is spent by the world on war. Is it time to invest in creating armies of love, as ridiculous as that may sound? By an army of love, I mean groups of people employed to go around and be affirmative to people, help them out, empower them, teach by example. We could have army bases all round the world poised to send out this message, or be deployed for emergency acts of kindness. We could declare peace on different parts of the world and drop gifts from planes to them, together with messages of friendship. We could take over the news media and make them print only good news — stories of communities coming together, for example.
The reason this sounds like a joke is because we are so used to an upside-down worldview that has been around for centuries. We’re used to thinking love is weak — but that is to confuse the meaning of love. It’s been said that the meek shall inherit the earth — but this doesn’t mean the weak. It means the “empowered loving” — because in being empowered and loving, that’s where we are centred in our power and that’s what comes back to us.
Nothing admirable about violence
Our own ego — that mind chatter we have — is all about war. It’s about battling everything we don’t want and it keeps us small. Just like real war, it might seem to work for a time, but soon enough it shows its limitations. For centuries that very same ego in us (and the resulting society it has created) has taught us to see love as powerless and unmanly. And brute force has been seen as heroic. In movies, especially today, it’s telling that aggression and violence is promoted way more than loving sexuality, which can be banned if too explicit. I’ve always found this strange, that we censor sexuality more than violence — perhaps it mirrors the mainstream’s disconnection around sexuality, or perhaps reflects people’s frustration and the bitter need to see violence instead of beauty or people actually feeling good? Either way, it’s not a sign of balance or alignment.
A confusion around love
Sometimes standing up for yourself is necessary, I just don’t advocate making aggression a lifestyle. Using masculinity as a way to justify this war-mongering aspect of our ego is simply what the ego does, and it’s not in our own best interests.
Anger and violence is a tantrum, it’s childish and it rebounds on the self. Acts of anger come and go to be forgotten whereas acts of love are remembered and make a genuine difference.
When I talk about love — I’m not talking about people pleasing, I’m talking about connection and authenticity. The reason the expression says that “nice guys finish last” is because being “nice” is not loving — it’s repression. It’s being polite because you’re scared not to be, not because you want to be. Following societal or religious rules because you are afraid of the consequences is very different than following them because you genuinely believe they’re the right thing to do. And so being yourself is more authentic and more “empowered loving” than being “nice”. And your Real Self, loves. It’s who we all are deep down. True, powerful authenticity then is being loving. It’s being appreciative as a way of being.
The weapon of love
Being loving is being powerful. It’s how we win. Yes, it’s great for everyone else but remember it’s the ultimate gift for our self, too. It starts with total self-acceptance of self. You are where you are and you want to first meet that with love.
And if you’re an angry type, love this part of yourself. Channel it into sports or hobbies or love. And now, why not get excited about being part of an army of love — find being loving attractive. That’s how we’re going to change the world.
Michael James is the author of Emotional First Aid and Feel Better, No Matter What which are both published by Watkins Publishing. http://instagram.com/michaeljamesbe
