Loveworks!
The Rodan Foundation’s Publication for The Love Awakening
February 2026
The Love Awakening (TLA) is the service arm of The Rodan Foundation. The TLA offers self-empowerment tools and courses designed to help you awaken and reclaim your personal power through positive living. We live the power of love through volunteer efforts supporting the people and the environment in our local and extended communities.
Our mission is to assist humanity in awakening to the power of love. Our intention is to help others awaken to who they truly are and use that awakening for the greater good. Our vision is the collective awakening of humanity, bringing forth harmony and unity for all. Join us as we learn and grow in the ways of living love and loving life!
DARE TO LOVE: THE PATH TO UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
When the term “unconditional love” became current, it marked a change in how we view love itself. A mother loves her newborn child without reservation, and romantic love, in its first stages of infatuation, can make the beloved seem perfect. But it was new to believe that love without reservation, completely forgiving and accepting, could exist between two people in everyday life — in other words, a spiritual dimension has to be involved. This means that to love yourself unconditionally must come from a higher level. Looking in the mirror, all of us see too many flaws and remember too many past wounds and failings to love ourselves unconditionally. There is a path to unconditional love, as with any spiritual aspiration. On this path, there is a beginning, middle, and end. Let me describe them a little to give you an idea of how the path unfolds.
Beginning: You see yourself as wanting and needing love, usually more than you are receiving. You feel insecure about being lovable, but your ego is there to boost you (or not). You love others for the most part according to how much they love you or appeal to your sense of romance, sexuality, and compatibility. Relationships involve a constant negotiation between what you want and what your partner wants. The words that apply to love include the following: passion, attachment, dependency, merging, romance, mutual need, liking, and compatibility.
Middle: When you aspire to a higher kind of love, ego and neediness begin to count for much less. You feel that love can be a healing force that binds everyone. You can love someone else without needing anything from them. Such love begins to be less personal and attached. Your awareness expands, and you feel less insecure. Love becomes more mature and peaceful. Relationships involve mutual appreciation; there are fewer conflicts between two defensive personalities. The words that apply to love include the following: idealistic, calm, unselfish, giving, empathic, forgiving, and accepting.
End: When all limitations are left behind, love becomes unconditional. You feel that it emerges from a spiritual source inside yourself. This is more than a feeling; you’ve tapped into a universal aspect of Being. No longer do you have a personal stake in the people you love. Pure compassion is possible now and a sense of belonging to the human family. Relationships involve no struggle or contending needs and wants. Love becomes a self-sufficient state of fulfillment. The words that apply to love include the following: blissful, transcendent, saintly, luminous, ecstatic, and boundless.
As you can see, the term “unconditional” isn’t being used lightly. It’s about a process that reaches an exalted goal, while at the same time there are glimpses of bliss and joy along the way. As with all spiritual aspirations when they are real, unconditional love is natural. It can be felt in a baby’s innocence or the sight of a sublime sunset. What’s challenging is to hold on to these passing moments, to turn them into a permanent state. Yet every step on the journey is worthwhile, just as any aspect of healing is always worthwhile.
Looking at the beginning, middle, and end of the path to unconditional love, you don’t need to judge where you belong. All of us have felt at least a few instances where we were perfectly loved and completely lovable. For most people, these times go back to childhood or a first romance. How, then, do we regain such a state? By walking the path that lies ahead. The world’s spiritual traditions have provided many road maps, but here I’ll offer a few common elements without religious overlay.
The path involves:
1. Making contact with your inner self.
2. Honestly facing your inner obstacles and resistance.
3. Dealing with old wounds.
4. Forgiving your past.
5. Accepting where you are right now.
6. Forming relationships where you feel loved and appreciated.
7. Practicing the kind of love you aspire to receive.
If you spend time every day with one or two of these steps, you will find that there is a practical road to love that exceeds what you have in your life today.
Long ago, around the time I wrote a book called The Path to Love, I encountered many people, most of them women, who were constantly waiting for “the one” to show up and sweep them off their feet. But the only way to realistically find “the one” is to be “the one” yourself. Like attracts like, and the more you live your own ideal of love, the more your light will draw another light to you. This single point, I am told, has helped the most people find their love.
The steps to unconditional love unfold naturally once you begin to devote attention to them. You were born to be perfectly loved and completely lovable. The loss of that status is what’s unnatural, not wanting to return to it. The return means reconnecting with your true self. The path has been walked successfully for centuries, so I hope you take heart and join the fortunate ones who aspire this high. There is no better time to begin than now.
DEEPAK CHOPRA MD, FACP, FRCP
The "I Love Me" MeditationTM
The "I Love Me" Meditation is a simple and profound heart-centered practice of generating your personal frequency of love. It will teach you how to activate your natural capacity to generate and experience love through conscious awareness and conscious choice. This practice helps us to awaken. It encourages personal empower-ment, greater self-esteem and self-discovery as we learn practical means of replacing fear and negative frequency with the most powerful force in the universe: Love!
The “I Love Me” meditation series and the “Embrace of Acceptance” series are available on the free Insight Timer App. To listen, download the app or visit https://insig.ht/jErOcnXnjub
Upcoming Service Activities and Volunteer Events
FEBRUARY SING & SHARE!
Sunday, February 8th: 2: p.m.
Sunrise Senior Living 955 S. El Camino Real, San Mateo
Join with us as we delight and inspire the elders of our community with lively company, silly joke time, and a fun, oldies-but-goodies sing-along with musical accompaniment. Don't sing well? Don't worry! All you need is a heart full of goodness and a smile. Please come live your love with us! Adults and children of all ages are welcome!
The Embrace of LoveTM
The Embrace of LoveTM is a guided meditation series which uses profound philosophy and gentle guidance to deepen your healing relationship with yourself as you are connected with the empowering presence of acceptance. Listen to a free recording on The Love Awakening's website and discover more about our organization and activities: theloveawakening.org
Also....
Experience a video podcast of Rev. Clarke Carraway's inspired Presentation of Truth.
"Like" The Love Awakening on Facebook and join our community.
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE IN THE NEW YEAR
Aspects of Unconditional Love
Spiritual & Divine Love: Many associate unconditional love with God's love (agape), a selfless, eternal love that offers salvation and grace, a perfect theme for spiritual renewal.
Self-Love & Compassion: A crucial step is extending this grace inward, practicing self-care, releasing self-judgment, and understanding your own beliefs to better love others.
Love for Others: It's about initiating love, being slow to anger, showing patience and kindness, and accepting people as they are, fostering deeper connections.
A Fresh Start: The New Year provides a clean slate to commit to this practice, aiming for a year filled with harmony, less ego, and more genuine connection.