When an archer shoots an arrow, he has a target in mind. He doesn't always reach his target, yet he always has a target.

This is what I ask you to do, to have a target in mind in terms of your life. What do you want to reach? Where are you going?

At the head of your list is to love, that whatever you do, wherever you go, that you go with love, and, that whatever you give, you give with love. Desire no less from yourself. Have that intention. You don't have to put signs up such as: "Remember to love today." Of course, you may, yet the important thing is to set the intention to be a lover of life and mankind. If you miss, you do not penalize yourself. Remember, some targets you will miss here and there, and yet, with experience, you become a greater archer. The desire and the intention are key. Perfection in the world is not.

When your intention is love, you are prevented from many things. You will not be able to enact spite, for example. Granted, you might think of it, and yet you won't enact it. You know better. Anger, hate, and fear will dwindle. So much the better, for you were made for love, and that is the target you go for.

Is it possible that loving is a habit as any other? Is it possible that negativity, which you may have practiced so well, is also a habit? It is probable that somewhere along the line you set a goal to retaliate in the world, and so you became a reactor rather than an enactor. Is it possible that you have been good at reacting? That you have been quick at the draw, stalwart to the end, dedicated to getting even or some such?

You have wanted to make a statement in the world. Everyone wants that, yet you may have desired a statement that says: "No one gets the better of me." And, so, in this way, everyone gets the better of you because, on their command, you make them the ruler of you and you dance to their tune. You are not meant to be a puppet. You are meant to be a real-live giver of love, or, at least, not a reactor.

Whatever you do, wherever you are and wherever you go, you want love to be at your basis. Of course, that is the truth. Love is your very foundation. Anything else is not. Therefore, you set your direction in the direction of love. You not only are love, but you set yourself in the direction of love.

You have named your target. You have named it Love. And, now, you are claiming love. You keep your eye on it. You have marked Love on the map of your life. You know where you are going.

Fortunate is the one who can choose his life and not fall into it by default. Yet, if you find yourself in a situation that you do not love, move toward your target which is love. You can love anyway. You can love yourself enough to enjoy and pass on some love along the way.

You will grow toward giving love more than you think about getting what you want. You become greater before you know it, more in the direction of giving rather than getting. You know that getting is short-lived. As you get the hang of it, of itself, your giving fosters the love in your heart, and so you have more love in your heart. Where else can love exist but in the heart?