♥
Life's Inspirational Valiant
Endeavors
~ Touched By
Love ~
“The
greatest thing you’ll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return.”
~ A poet, "Moulin Rouge"
I was touched by love the
first time my mother kissed her lips to my little fingers and toes. It was,
indeed, love at first sight. And so the story goes, I spent the next
thirty-something years of my life trying to recreate that once-in-a-lifetime,
unconditional they say, instinctual perhaps, but nevertheless, magic of love.
I caught glimpses of it in
my father’s eyes when he grinned at me, as I watched an ant climb up a
mountain. I grew closer still when my little brother wrapped me in his arms and
hugged me tight, after life had gotten a hold of us. Even as the love of my
life, “my density”, pledges his heart to me after nineteen years of marriage
(twenty-seven if we’re counting an incredibly long courtship), I am reminded
that true love is in action. I know what it is to have come so close, the
moment I, myself, kissed three sets of fingers and toes, renewing the cycle
of life and a mother’s love.
I know what
it is to love and to be loved.
I had simply
forgotten, to love *me* along the way.
We spend a lifetime
searching for love in all the wrong places, wonderful as some of them may be,
short-lived as some of them most thankfully are ~ all our efforts in vain,
seeking that which we have denied ourselves, only to realize that the love
we’ve searched for in others, was to be found, not in them, but in us.
I asked myself some time ago,
when life had slowed just long enough for me catch my breath ~ What was it I
was so afraid of, that I would avoid intimacy with those I was closest to,
avoid asking for what I need, avoid looking into my own eyes, my own heart, for
those answers I sought in others. I found my answers, my truths, only when I
began to let go of my fear.
Touched by love, we create
fear, so as never to breathe, to live, to exist in its absence. Where love is
courageous and not easily explained, fear is primal and instantly acknowledged,
settling into our very bones.
It is the human condition
that we often times confuse love with fear. Our fear of change stunts our
growth. Our fear of intimacy and success stifles our creativity. Our fear of
sadness and the loss of our voice, breeds more fear. But it is our fear of
letting go, by our own design, which keeps us always coming back for more. Love
hurts, we are told. And, it must follow, as the night the day, so it must be
love.
Love is the
antithesis of fear.
Love is…
Freedom,
Strength,
and
Honor
Courage,
Passion,
and
Peace
Wisdom,
Beauty,
and
Healing
Patience,
Hope,
Faith,
and
Truth!
Love is…
Courage, in
the presence of Chaos.
~ Love, is
Love, is Love! ~
This Valentine's Day
Share the Love My Friends!
 |
| This I Believe: On Love |
“The best
way out is always through.”
~ Robert
Frost
