Love often seems like an abstract concept that many of us think we know, but do we? Love is when I can love something without caring how it feels about me in return.
Instantly, my mind goes to animals.
As a kid, I would sit for hours with my dog, telling him stories and walking with him as if he understood the relationship. It was as if he understood my love for him, but I never stopped to think, how does he feel about me?
Did it even matter because I knew that I loved him?
I have noticed as I get older that the love I give someone is unconditional. A recent development.
I no longer care if the other person loves me; I only know that true love never disappears if I love someone. I am not talking about toxic love because that is all transactional. Love is not a transaction.
If I love a dog, and he does not love me back, will I stop loving him because he does not love me? Of course not; I have no idea how my dog felt about me, yet I still treated him as the best dog in the world.
The same as I treated my pony, I loved him even when he tried to bite me and would run too fast. I still loved him no matter what.
So many of us in the modern-day world think ¨well if that person does not love me, then I don’t love them¨. I do not believe it works like that.
We all have opinions on love and don’t feel the same way on this topic. Yet, I have noticed some people you love because you love them from the bottom of your soul.
Your heart remains open for them no matter where they are.
You can love someone and not be with them; you can love someone and never see them again. You can love someone without them returning the love.
When a return of love is demanded, is it love or a form of attachment that can become toxic?
My entire life, I expected if I love you, then in return, you have to love me; there is no option. Boy, was I wrong; love never has to do with the other person.
It begins with me. Can I love myself enough to have enough love to give it away without strings or attachments?
The ultimate question.
I love my niece and nephews no matter what; it is unconditional. Do they feel the same? Who knows, but the love is given to them whether they want it or not.
I imagine that is how most parents feel, and you can love without agreeing with someone or their lifestyle. You can love someone but not be in their life.
I have been learning to love without expectation, without strings. At first, when I started to think of love this way, I thought ¨this is some bullshit¨. Yet now, it feels more natural. With lots of practice!
I do not want to live on a contractual basis; if you do this, I will do this. No, that is not how I want to live; it makes me feel needy and unfulfilled. Yet, if you know I love you and can give freely, I find this more fulfilling than anything else.
Love is free; love is the ultimate gift, and love is what we have within us that is just there.
Yet so many of us lose this love, or maybe it’s not that we lost it, but perhaps we forgot what love is. We forget that we came from love and were made of love, and it is there, but the pain of love, lost or hurt, takes the place of love.
Yet if you allow love to fill your soul, the hurt and pain must be pushed out.
I have had heartbreak, sadness, and horrible things happen, but I do not want those things to define me. I do not want to be a sad, angry person in life.
I want to allow love to surround me. I have a friend who radiates love and has taught me so much about how to embody love, and it is tough for me.
So, it has been an arduous process to get to the point of saying I love you, and whether or not you feel the same, my feelings will not change. You do not have to love me for me to love you.
When it happens in a natural process, it feels like I have climbed Mt. Everest( or any unobtainable goal). It can be for anybody or anything.
Before you eye roll, try it and see if it makes you feel sad or full of love.
I am learning about life as I navigate how to get through it, just like everyone else. Yet this one practice of learning to love without strings has been challenging. It is also an ongoing practice that I work on daily, if only to work on my love for myself.
It is hurtful, and many tears have been shed over this topic. The older I get, the more tears I shed, and a lot of it is for the lack of love I showed my younger self.
Did I answer my topic question? Probably not, but hopefully, it made you think 💕😜
Who knows? Just another curiosity my brain wanted to explore today.
XOXO
S