Love Levels

I heard Tony Robbins explain the four levels of love the other night and haven't been able to get it out of my head. Level 1 -- Baby love. I want something. You give it to me. Waaah. Totally one-sided. Level 2 -- Horse trading. He also called it "whoring." You give me something, and I give you something back. As long as the deal works for us, we stay with it. But if the deal becomes unbalanced, you're out. Level 3 -- true, unconditional love. I love you through thick and thin, in sickness and in health, and I value you. You value me. Level 4 -- Something like service love. Like Nelson Mandela spending his time in prison planning how he will serve the world when he's out. Let's go back to that second one. Horse trading is also called "whoring?" If you're truly just trading horses, I don't think that is the same as trading your body for money. I think there are gray areas here. However, it hit me between the eyes that I have considered relationships based on the deal that is offered. A nice dinner for a kiss goodnight. Trading time for money in general. Viewing the deal as "what's in it for me?" In other words, would Donald Trump be as valuable to women without his money? Would Heidi Klum be a hot model if she looked like Margaret Thatcher? That feels like commoditizing people. And it feels icky. I have felt commoditized by employers before. Like I'm just a number. If they can get the job done cheaper, they will. Their decisions are driven by their business goals and the all-important profit margin. If I make more money for them than I cost, I'm of value. For sales people, that is easy to define. For writers and other artistic types, not so much. Great singers get dropped from record labels when their product sales dip. Their life's work is quantified, and the quality is not a factor. Quality is in the eyes (or ears) of the beholder. I find this a very inhumane and uncomfortable truth. This is when I say "I don't have a business mind." Maybe it's that I can't find the humanity in the business mind. I don't want my next career chapter to be based on horse trading. I want it to be based on love. Is that possible? I think so. I have seen it, I think. I want to live a life based on service and spirituality, not ego. I want to be more about giving than greed. More evolved than elitist. More down-to-earth and less dogmatic. More socially conscious than socially stunted. Dreamer. Yep. And proud of it.