Love is More than Just a Hand to Hold
“There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.“
~George Sand
I don’t like to admit this but sometimes I wonder if I have forgotten how to love. It may seem silly I know. A woman in her thirties talking to you about the absence of love in her life but don’t get me wrong this is real. I have spent years blanketing myself with protective layers, haphazardly protecting myself from feeling anything remotely close to love. Lust maybe. Love hell no! Get away your not for me.
Yes, I like you have been hurt before. So much so that I refuse to go back and remember how it feels when it slips away. What’s more? My lack of being in a relationship has caused me to fall in love with the idea of romantic love. You know the kind we fall asleep dreaming of and when we wake we pinch ourselves to find that it’s not real. I love the dream. I love the dream so much that I wonder will I ever be able to love if it’s real?
I am scared.
But I know that I am not alone. Love can be an opposing force twisting and pulling us in numerous directions. Love will never make everything better. The truth is at times it may make life harder. It forces you out of your comfort zone and can leave you with nothing. So I ask you is love worth it?
I do believe it is. But romantic love is not the primary reason for life and life will not cease to exist in its absence. At some point my idealistic view of romantic love changed me. I mirrored the absence of romantic love with being flawed and empty, neither of which are accurate depictions of my true character. See I’m not flawed, I’m happy. I’m not empty either. I’m full. Full of life and full of love.
See love is everywhere around me. I find love in books, in movies, in small conversations that take place on the street corner. I find love when I pick up my phone or answer my doorbell. I find love at work and I continue to find it in the most random places. I find it when I hug my dog, talk to a long lost friend or albeit have that hour long, much needed conversation with my mother. I see it in they eyes of others. Love is everywhere. And the more I see it the more I am reminded that I am love. We are all love.
Love will Never be Everything
So I’m not sure how this notion began. When did loving your life become unimportant? To only be replaced by someone else walking through life with you. Love is more than just a hand to hold. Our lives are filled with love yet it is often overlooked. See we must remember that love does not just come in the form of romance. It comes in so many ways. It surrounds us everyday. Often it is the love that we receive from our families, friends and strangers that is taken for granted and forgotten.
Love is Powerful
We need to give it, receive it and be better for it. The more we give the more we will receive in return. Love demands that we be open; implores us to trust freely and requires us to accept others the way they are. When we hold onto the archaic notion that love only comes in one form, romantic, we seize to understand the meaning of love.
So Where do we Go?
Love on its own is powerful but nothing will ever be as powerful as you. Nothing. Therefore the key to acknowledging love in all forms is in our hands. We must be open. Trust freely. And accept others. And we will find ourselves supported by an endless supply of love. Are you willing to take the leap? I know. I am. I am open to it in every single way.
So much love your way...