The Power of Unconditional Love

“Sometimes we wake up at three o’clock in the morning and have our best conversations”
-Greg Nelson

The Power of Unconditional Love

I’ve known Greg Nelson for thirty-five years. So, needless to say, I’ve watched him grow in many aspects of his life. Today, he’s a fine business man and is one of the leading experts in providing benefit packages to companies large and small. There are very few people that enjoy the acute analytical abilities he has and I’ve always respected his remarkable talent. Late last week I sat in meetings with Greg for a couple of days and I discovered another remarkable talent he possesses along with more reasons to respect and admire him.

During a break at our meetings a fire alarm went off. Since we were in an office tower in downtown Salt Lake City there was some question as to whether or not it was a false alarm because we could not see any smoke. But, we quickly decided to follow the directions being broadcast and take the stairs down so we could exit the building. It was a long walk down since we had to descend twenty-three floors. But it was worth it when once on the street level we saw fire fighters arrive in their truck and begin the process of looking for the cause of the alarm.

During our wait, we were able to sit in the lobby of the building so we could avoid the cold outside. And, since we had been out in the weather for a little while I sat on a heat radiator to get warm again. Not long after I sat down, Greg’s daughter came and sat next to me and we talked quietly. As we talked, I looked across the lobby and watched her parents stride toward us hand-in-hand. I looked in her eyes and said, “You’re lucky to have parents that still love each other.”
She looked back at me and said, “I know. I’ve never had to worry about that or whether or not my parents were trying to do what was best for me.”

Then, not long afterward, Greg sat next to me and I said, “It’s great to see that you’re still in love with your wife.”

He replied, “Yes. And, we have the most wonderful conversations even after being married for more than twenty-five years. Sometimes we both just wake up at three in the morning and have these talks. It’s great for our relationship, but it makes us real tired the next day. That’s what happened last night.”

As I sat with Greg and his daughter I couldn’t help but feel the power of unconditional love radiating from them. It was a glow I’ll never forget. It was a happiness that was genuine.
It made me wonder how many of us ever are enjoying that same kind of feeling in life. I looked across the lobby of a large building during an emergency and saw lots of other people milling about. I didn’t have the chance to sit and talk with many others. There was one that caught my eye though.

A young man came into the lobby with a large box of sandwiches and chips. He hurried over to the elevator and touched the call button. The elevator didn’t come. He looked puzzled so I got up and walked over to tell him that the elevators were in lock down.

He said, “They can’t be. I have people on the nineteenth floor waiting for this food.”
I said, “They shouldn’t be there. The fire department has ordered an evacuation of the building.”

He picked up his cell phone and called up stairs. A moment later he said, “They’re coming down.”

Not long after, I saw a single man walk up to him and get the box. It was one man! The others had stayed up stairs!

Not more than two or three minutes later a fire fighter used a key to unlock the elevators and told us that the building was clear. There had been an “electrical melt down on the 24th floor.” They had taken care of it so it was now safe.

That announcement answered a huge question for me. Was it a real emergency or a false alarm?
It was real! I was glad I followed directions to safety. I remember thinking how unfortunate the people on the nineteenth floor could have been by believing it was a false alarm. I could tell that’s what they believed by their casual response to an announced emergency.

As I rode the elevator back up to the twenty-third floor I couldn’t help but wonder, “Are we offering unconditional love in our relationships just as Greg Nelson is, or are we treating our relationships too casually, as if they are a false alarm. Luckily I was riding up with Greg, his wife and his children basking in their genuine unconditional love. I could feel the difference between the real thing and a casual love. They gave me the conviction to never make my relationships too casual again.

Unconditional love is a tremendous power and it is a power that is available to each one of us if we will accept and offer it to others. Take a few minutes today and decide to offer unconditional love to the people who are important to you. If you will, it will change your life and the lives of those around you. “This is not a drill.”