He is the author of the very successful and absolutely amazing book, the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. And I recently listened to a terrific interview with him by Tony Robbins.
Having read the book a while ago I never really appreciated its impact as much as I do now. And I am integrating the principles into my life. You may also want to checkout his new book, The 8th Habit.
This is an article I wrote in 2002 and I’m republishing it here now that we’re getting closer to Valentine’s Day where all women go cookoo and men fall over their feet to please them…
As we approach Valentine’s Day its imperative we re-look the meaning of love in modern society. Is love in the 21st century really the same thing as it always was throughout history? The love talked about in the great mythical tales of Romeo & Juliet and Anthony & Cleopatra. Lets look at the definition of love and proceed from there.
The common meaning of love is a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness; a feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance. However many people equate it with Sexual passion, Sexual intercourse or a Love affair; an intense emotional attachment, as for a pet or treasured object; a person who is the object of deep or intense affection or attraction; beloved. Often used as a term of endearment or an expression of one’s affection: “Send him my love.” It could also be a strong predilection or enthusiasm: “a love of language” and even the object of such an enthusiasm: “The outdoors is her greatest love.” In mythology it refers to Eros or Cupid, often Love in Christianity means Charity and in tennis, zero!
The premise of the movie “The Mirror Has Two Faces” resolves around the question, if marriage is the be all and end all of love? The answer follows that, in the 12 century there was a notion of courtly love, where 2 people come together for love and could not consummate it. This would normally take place between a knight and a lady of the court, which is already married. They would proceed to express their love in many different ways like writing poems to each other. The other strong point the movie makes is the effect that advertising (brainwashing) has on our modern perception of love and beauty. In the days before television and plush women’s magazines we are allowed to think for ourselves. After all beauty is no longer in the eye of the beholder, lets just face the facts.
In another movie “Don Juan DeMarco”, our hero lives life the way we all wish we could, in love, totally in-love. The kind of love that makes you feel like you exist only because the person that you love. The moral of this story is that we deny ourselves the love that is all consuming. We don’t realise what a wonderful experience it could be and to what madness it can drive us when taken away from us. In modern society we’re afraid of our “feelings being hurt” and “what other people may think”. So what do we do about it? We should take the risks because the rewards will be worth more then all the treasure of King Solomon’s mines. As the classic saying goes, it’s better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all.
Talking to most people they will tell you love is when that special person does small things to make you happy. Others will tell you its that burning desire to hop out of your clothes and get it on, as Marvin Gaye would say. Well honestly, everyone out there experiences on different levels and in different ways love. That is what makes human beings so unique. As we all know with animals instinct takes over and in the heat (sic) of the moment all composure is lost and they end up doing it doggy style.
So do you believe love is a myth or it is something real that can be experienced by everyone, like you and me? Do you believe love is when you kiss your girlfriend or boyfriend and you hear music like in the movies? Does it really matter that to fall in-love and be in-love you need to consummate it? There are so many questions to be asked about love and in real life there is no easy answers. So we look forward to your questions and comments about love, especially after this Valentine’s Day.
Some useful links
As you may know I live in Johannesburg, the New York City of Africa. And we have this talk radio station 702 which is very popular. My favourite show is the Tim Modise show from 9am-12 every week day. I highly recommend you listen to him via the Internet on www.702.co.za and especially his weekly interview with Dr Helgo Schomer a Psychologist from University of Cape Town. Well one day Tim played Martin Luther King Jr’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech and took a number of calls. Now for those of you who don’t know me I can be very nostalgic.
So recently I decided to track down a audio file of this great speech which I could listen to it again. This is the kinds of things I wish they will incorporate into the History curriculum in high schools. A focus on the contribution of people like Martin Luther King Jr that can inspire young people growing up in a world filled with turmoil. The attitude that King had in his life comes from a deep moral conviction. You know he was a Baptist Minister and that comes through very strongly in his speech. And this is something I plan to emulate in my own public talks.
You can download the MP3 of his speech here…
Also checkout this Time 100 profile here…
And remember if you want to feel enthusiastic, act enthusiastic…!
I got this from the Napoleon Hill Foundation, “Without a plan for your life, it is easier to follow the course of least resistance, to go with the flow, to drift with the current with no particular destination in mind. Having a definite plan for your life greatly simplifies the process of making hundreds of daily decisions that affect your ultimate success. When you know where you want to go, you can quickly decide if your actions are moving you toward your goal or away from it. Without definite, precise goals and a plan for their achievement, each decision must be considered in a vacuum. Definiteness of purpose provides context and allows you to relate specific actions to your overall plan.”
Clearly this applies to Dating as well because most people DO NOT know what it is they want and what they don’t want. A woman will typically believe in a romantic fantasy of meeting “the man of her dreams” by accident. And if its meant to be she will meet him this way. She will believe things like “you can’t find the one you’re looking for, you have to let him find you…” And with men its almost the same. They don’t know what they want, so now they meet a physically attractive woman and they completely forget about the things they don’t like in her ’till its to late. What I mean is they become almost blind as in “love is blind” or rather “lust is blind” and therefore they put up with what Canadian relationship guru Stephane Hemon calls “pussy power” and this ultimately destroys their masculinity.
Match.com the biggest online dating network of websites in the world has teamed up with Dr Phil. There is three hilarious tv commercials that have been produced and I was laughing my ass off with Dr Phil’s comments and they visual way in which the benefits of online dating is shown. It really can be a meat market and selection becomes so very important. Also checkout Dr Phil’s new book Love Smart with some great advice….
