Mar 31, 2016

What Love Letter Will You Write To The World?

The fact that you exist is nothing short of a miracle.

Your life is a gift. And how you live your life is your thank you letter to the universe.

You can take your life for granted and live your life from a mindset of entitlement… or you can live from a place of gratitude paired with the intention of contribution.

You can take or you can give.

Be a drain, or a gain.

Entitlement: “Well, I was invited to this party so I might as well eat all of this free food. It’s just sitting here so it’s obviously for me. If someone wanted me to stop stuffing my face they would tell me!”

Gratitude and contribution: “I am so humbled to have been invited to this amazing party. The decorations and people are beautiful, the food is beyond belief, and I will do whatever I can to chip in and make the party that much more amazing for everyone in attendance. Even the people who get here later tonight after I’ve left….. I want to make their experience better as well.”

Think of these two options every time you make any micro-decision in your life.

Will you aim to passive-aggressively pressure your partner into sex because they owe it to you? Or will you spend your day off doing all of the housework, making them their favourite meal, and proactively solving a problem in their life for them (without expectation of reciprocity, sexual or otherwise) because you simply love them that much?

Will you only call up your friends when you need something from them? Or will you regularly think of ways to make their lives better and tell them how much (and why) you love them simply because they deserve to be treated in such a way by their good friend?

Will you only put in genuine effort into your work when you’re fairly confident that it will be noticed, rewarded, and get you a promotion? Or will you put in your best effort all the time, regardless of whether or not you think it will result in short-term goals, because you know you’ll feel better about yourself if you do good work as it’s own reward?

Lead with the giving hand. Be kind to people. Live your entire life as if it were a love letter to the world that you inhabit.

At your funeral, people won’t be talking about your bank balance. They won’t be talking about the promotions you did or didn’t receive. They won’t be talking about your BMI, cholesterol, or complexion. They’ll be talking about how you made them feel. They’ll be talking about all of the nice things that you did, said, and were, that positively impacted the lives of the people who remained. In short, they will celebrate the love that you were able to infuse into the world with the way that you lived your life.

Whether you predominantly focus on giving or getting is your choice, always.

So…

What love letter will you write to the world?

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll likely also love reading:

31 Ways To Spread More Love Into The World

I Believe In Loving Like You Give A Shit

11 Easy Ways To Actually Love Yourself More

I Met The World’s Greatest Mom Today

Jordan Gray
About Jordan Gray

Jordan Gray has been a sex and relationship coach for over 15+ years, with his work reaching over 200 million people worldwide. His writing has been featured in Vogue, GQ, The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Women’s Health, and countless other publications around the world. When he’s not working with 1-on-1 coaching clients or writing a new article, he’s most likely to be found reading, chopping wood, or spending time with his wife on a little island off the west coast of Canada.

Blog

Related

See All
5 Ways Your Cell Phone Can Improve Your Relationship
Apr 19, 2015
Jordan Gray
5 Ways Your Cell Phone Can Improve Your Relationship
Cell phones get a lot of flack when it comes to how we interact with each other in our relationships. But technology is a neutral entity. It’s how we use our phones that matters. Yes, if you text each other more than you talk face to face, you can experience pain in your relationship. But if you harness...
Continue Reading
How Valuable Are You As A Partner?
Dec 2, 2013
Jordan Gray
How Valuable Are You As A Partner?
Are you continually making an effort to be the best partner possible? Here's the thing… it's easy to coast in life. You can get a job that's good enough to pay the bills, be in good enough shape to take the stairs without getting winded, and be a good enough partner that your significant other doesn't...
Continue Reading
30 Pieces of Advice From 30 Couples Married 30+ Years
Dec 16, 2018
Jordan Gray
30 Pieces of Advice From 30 Couples Married 30+ Years
Ever wanted to hear from a trusted board of advisors on the topic of sustaining long-term love? Well, you’re in luck. I searched high and low to find thirty couples who had been happily married for over thirty years, and asked them what one piece of advice they would give to anyone who...
Continue Reading
Unfathomable Pain, Unfathomable Beauty
Mar 18, 2018
Jordan Gray
Unfathomable Pain, Unfathomable Beauty
The world is incomprehensibly vast and dynamic. It would be too easy to throw in the nihilistic towel and say, 'The world is too messed up. My life has no meaning. What's the point of it all?' Because, yes, the amount of pain and suffering in the world is truly unfathomable. Every day, loved...
Continue Reading
The Big Test Before You Leap
May 28, 2024
Jordan Gray
The Big Test Before You Leap
In 2019, my now-wife/then-love-interest Demetra and I were engaging in multi-hour Skype dates and inching ever-closer to the point of saying "Hey, we should meet up in person and see if our chemistry translates to the real world." Our rapport was phenomenal. The synchronicities were everywhere. It...
Continue Reading
The Only Thing You Need To Get Right While Talking To A Woman
Apr 28, 2014
Jordan Gray
The Only Thing You Need To Get Right While Talking To A Woman
You have been raised with the mindset that you need to play it cool in order to impress and ultimately attract a woman. And the initial appeal of this way of interacting with women makes sense. Because it helps you steer clear of vulnerability (something that you have been taught to avoid at all costs). Besides,...
Continue Reading