“The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them.”     – Thomas Merton

In this week’s podcast, Episode 15, I discuss The Meaning of Life, The Essence of Existence, and the Meaning of Love.

This quote from Merton is, perhaps, one of my favorites on the concept of love – and agrees quite well with Frankl’s ideas, “love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality…  By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in the other person, which is not yet actualized but yet out to be actualized.”

In learning to truly love another person – friends, family members, partner, or spouse, we not only transcend our own selves, thereby giving ourselves the opportunity to discover new meaning, but our love sees the other in their uniqueness, and encourages them to become the person they were meant to be.

So then the question is, how are you loving those who are most important to you?

To go a little deeper into the idea, check out this week’s podcast: TMP-Ep15 – Logotherapy in a Nutshell part 2: The Meaning of Life