What have you learned in your life about love?
January 19, 2023
This is a topic that I write about, quite often. Sometimes directly but mostly indirectly.
Love – “An intense feeling of deep affection.” A very basic definition of what love is.
All the words in every language, culture, or belief system can never truly convey what love is.
Love is this intangible thing that we feel but most believe it something that can be made tangible. Whether that is through flowers, candy, poetry, songs, trinkets, or small gestures towards the object of our affection.
Is that really love though? I see those outward projections of how we feel as temporary and can be forgotten over time.
In all the years of relationships that I have had, love was not in what I was given by others, it was in how they treated me or behaved with me. Kindness, caring, compassion, affection, and laughter, just to name a few.
Love taught me to appreciate the person for who they were, flaws and all.
I learned from love how I wanted to be treated, with respect, dignity, and fairness.
I would go into new relationships with this idealistic view that happiness was everything but reality showed me that was not true. Instead I learned patience, steadfastness, and determination.
Discovering all these things required me to learn how to love myself. I had to accept who I was. The flaws, idiosyncrasies, and that I was still growing as a person.
That in order to truly know love, you have to be willing to put others before yourself.
That devotion, faithfulness, and acceptance included the responsibility for your own actions towards the people in your life.
That you will be there just as easily in the happy moments as well as in those hard times.
Love’s lessons taught me to realize that “love” was just a word, true love has always been in our actions.
Thank you for stopping by.
Have a wonderful week!
Suzanne
love to bake 