In order to love, one has to consciously leave behind everything that isn't love.
I remember experiencing unconditional love after retracing my steps through my emotions back to a time of extreme loneliness during my childhood. The result was a connection with my inner child that left me crying tears of joy, a dam had opened and my tears flowed freely... and I experienced unconditional love and a blessing, a message in the midst of a vision of a beautiful Earth... "THE WORLD DOES NOT WANT TO BE CHANGED, JUST LOVED."
I had wanted to know how to heal painful experiences from childhood and I had wanted to help change the world for a better one. This experience came as an answer to both of my inquiries.
When I came back to my not so ecstatic 'normal' self I asked: "What do I need to do to get back into that space?" And the answer was: "Drop your worries."
This experience came to me in the early 90s. I did not know then how to drop any worry. They seemed to own me. Now I know. I just need to remember what it feels like to enter the space of love, of gratitude, of humble presence, of smiling with a child, holding a small flower, ...
I now know it is a choice to leave everything else behind and that choice isn't so difficult. It is the difference between Hell and Heaven, the difference between being a disconnected fear-filled human being or a spiritual being in a human body. The difference between letting my mind control me or finding the guru within and aligning with it. It makes all the difference in the world.
