So...it is Love, I want?

It is a word commonly used and more commonly misused. As we are individuals with minds unique to any one else’s, so is our definition of what love is. So what is it and why would I want it? Love should endure no hate or anything of the negative content, really. Patience, kindness, and understanding are good words to use, but what about joy, humor, and humility. These are words often left out in relationships whether it is of family or of romance. For so long, I have granted myself the honor to feel true love and offer a love pure of its definition. Unconditional love is hard to see in people because humans today are often plagued with jealousy, envy, or lust. A person who is loved should never feel like a possession to someone else but instead full of joy and freedom. Love should be freeing – to be able to trust someone with feelings, emotions, and even the physical body. I am trying to express that love should not, above all things, be out of selfishness. I should be so honor if a person trusts me with their body and emotions that I would never want to compromise that trust. Granted, trust is different for each person, if we are our individual selves. If I can honor myself and enjoy my solitude by conveying acts of love to myself, I would then, and only then, trust myself to be a grounded place to lift up my partner.

This idea is not a new one. Jesus loved a lot of people, perhaps even a love affair with Mary and why not. He was an honorable man who walked among his brothers and sisters showing what it was to look like to be a human being. Yes, he may have been an image of God and God himself even proclaimed that he created man (and women) in the image of him/herself. Could we all honor ourselves the way that Jesus or Buddha did? Yes, of course we can.

I often wonder where I sit with myself. I realized that true love, true, unconditional love, is a balance in ones self. It is okay to cry about things that make you sad; God knows that he did when his son was tormented out of fear and anger. Anger is also natural, but how we address our emotions is the refuge for love. Balance is key. A lover whom I had the honor to share my life with would always say, “what would love do?” That statement holds true and holds more meaning than any other statement I have heard in moments of making decisions for myself or for others. A book called In His Steps was the focus of Christians in a small American town who decided to live their days of business or pleasure by asking, “What Would Jesus Do?” You may have seen those nifty bracelets people started to wear with the letters WWJD. The intent is the same; Jesus was a loving example we can all learn from especially when the full story is understood about his life. He was a human being that showed compassion and love for all that crossed his path, even those religious people who put him to death. To me, that speaks volumes even in today’s religious sectors.

Love unconditional and even more importantly, stand up for others to honor themselves.