In Psychology, unconditional love refers to a state of mind in which one has the goal of increasing (LIFTING) the welfare of another, despite any evidence of benefits for oneself.

“L” is the most important letter in the word L.O.V.E.- Lifting Oneself and Others towards Victory and Excellence. It is the letter that makes the word love a verb. It gives love action. Most of the time, the word Lift has a positive connotation: An airplane lifts off to take an extended family to a beautiful Caribbean resort where they will make wonderful memories together; An elevator lifts a distraught woman to her apartment where she meets her long lost brother; A tender Mom lifts her baby into her arms in order to soothe him. Lifting someone is almost always associated with positive emotions and feelings.

There are basically four types of Love portrayed in the Bible and Literature. These are: 1) Agape Love – Love of humankind, 2)Philia – Love of friends and equals, 3) Storge – Love of parents for children, and 4) Eros – Erotic, passionate Love. All of these types of love involve one person choosing to lift and to elevate someone above their current situation or station in life.

Evan’s favorite Bible passage was Psalm 27. Verse 5 states, ” For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His sacred tent and set (LIFT) me high upon a rock”. Lifting means desiring something better for the other person, as well as providing protection for them ( lifting them out of harm’s way).

Here is a brief video which demonstrates Evan’s focus on Loving and Lifting others :

As I stated in one of the previous blogs, L.O.V.E. has to do with everything that we think, feel,  speak, and act on in our daily life. Love is involved in our spiritual life, our family, business, romance, friendships, and our cultural identities. Therefore, the most simple, and yet most difficult, decision one has to arrive at in Loving is to make a conscious choice to Lift ourselves and others as often as possible. Making a choice to Lift is difficult especially when the ego, pride, anger, etc, places formidable roadblocks to making that choice. However, once that conscious choice is made it should be acted on continually and continuously. To make this choice easier, one only has to focus on the first lesson we all learned in kindergarten i.e. THE GOLDEN RULE- Treat people as you want to be treated. (Lift people as you want to be Lifted).Remember. The L.O.V.E. Principle is based on our ability to choose a mindset that focuses on giving. Just as giving and lifting are the backbones of service, Service starts with L.O.V.E.

Call to Action: Make a conscious choice to Lift one person today, be it with a happy thought, an uplifting word, or a smile.

“We rise by LIFTING others”