Unconditional Love
Posted by djocean on June 24, 2008
Love is all you need.
The Beatles
There are many forms of love, each with its own unique and dynamic flavor. Depending on who is giving and who is receiving that love, it may seem like a lot of love at one time to one person or it may be more love than another person receives in their whole life to another. This is where life can get tough for a lot of people, because we all have a deep need for love and understanding.
Unconditional love is the greatest gift we can give or receive in our lifetime. Whether this means raising a child, loving your partner, or donating your time to a worthy cause, caring about others is why we do what we do. It is this togetherness that interweaves our destinies and provides us with lessons so we can grow and develop into the best human beings we can be. Giving of yourself to another is the ultimate sacrifice, but it also has the greatest rewards.
Desiring love or wanting to give it away comes from the fact that we all come from the whole (the universe). It makes sense that there is nothing more terrifying or lonely than being separated from that. While living this life, subconsciously, we all want to be part of the whole again, but are forced to be here and live this reality no matter how badly we want to be one with the universe. Somewhere between passing time in this life and the next, we will eventually come to the conclusion that love is the closest thing to being part of the whole, which is why people want it so bad. In other words, love is about self-honesty, understanding, the appreciation of others, and how far we are willing to go to achieve these things.
How long it takes you to figure out this key to happiness depends on your willingness to love both yourself and to give freely of yourself to others. Like playing a musical instrument, the more you practice the art of accepting love and being loved, the better you will get at it. Loving is a skill that requires patience and it is something that we must try to apply in every action we take.
Don’t be fooled by fake love either. People have a tendency to look outside of themselves for validation and nowhere more-so than in the concept of love. Whether its romantic love or familial love, people have a habit of thinking that another’s love will replace the fact that they don’t love themselves. In other words, people believe that another person can make them happy. This is belief not only hurts a relationship in the long run, but it usually destroys it before it even begins. People do the best they can and give love in the only way they know how, but sometimes that is not enough for certain people’s needs and it can quickly suffocate a potential partner or a friend.
It is also quite easy to confuse love with desire. We all want and we all need to an extent, but what we all want and need usually depends on what we have been given in the past. Those showered with love often give love freely. Those sheltered from love often hide their emotions and let few know what they think or how they feel. The key is to break out of this mindset of desiring happiness through others and see that you control the amount of love you have in your life.
In the end, love reminds us of our vague memories of life before cognitive understanding when we were innocent like newborns and just like with children, so it’s hard to blame people when they take steps to get attention. Eight out of ten times, they are doing anything they can just to be noticed and get some love. There is nothing more painful than feeling alone, but once you realize that if you just opened your heart and your mind, you could have the loving relationships that you desire so badly.
