Love does not diminish

How do you define love or the experience of it? What is it like to experience yourself on an intimate level? I don’t mean physically, but emotionally and spiritually? Some associate love with romantic feelings of butterflies in the stomach. They may talk about the sensations they feel when thinking of their loved one. But is love experienced through the mind, the body, or both? Is love a noun or a verb? How do we know if we have truly loved? What is the measure of having fully committed ourselves to love? I do not consider myself an expert on love or a relationship coach. I am as curious as you. What I know is: love does not demand anything of us because it is an empty container to fill. This is the analogy of life itself, where love is never wasted but is recirculated.

Is love unconditional for you? Or does it come with requirements? What happens when those requirements are not met, do you retain your love for another? Is it possible to retain the essence of who we are? How can we stop the water flowing in a river? You could say: build a damn. However, if the dam is not strong enough, the water pressure will find its way through or around it. You have undoubtedly seen tsunamis on television where entire villages are submerged in water. Water is a powerful metaphor for love because it can enrich a person’s life, but it can also be destructive if accompanied by conditions.

Do we need love in our lives? What does love offer us in return? Is it intimacy with ourselves or knowing others better? It was Saint Francis of Assisi who once said: “It is by giving that we receive.” He considered love as something that had to circulate to permeate our life and that of others. Love is like the sun that gives its energy and does not ask for anything in return because it is self-sufficient. The more we give love, the more we have. The question arises: what happens when love is unrequited or the other person ceases to identify with love? If love is not returned, it does not diminish the other person’s ability to give or receive it. The sun sets every afternoon and it is dark for twelve hours. However, with dawn, it reappears bringing energy to sustain life once more. It is a cycle sewn into the fabric of life and the same happens with love.

Dare to express love completely

When another person stops loving us, it does not mean that we cannot love each other. Because you cannot stop the flow, it will naturally find expression in another form. Love is the antidote to fear, hatred and anger. It is the only true constant in our lives that is given to us from conception. We are born in love and we leave this life knowing that we will continue to love in the lives that follow. The question is: have you dared to fully express love in this life? Have you given love freely and unconditionally? We should be like a sponge filled with water, fully squeezed out when our time comes. We must fill our hearts with love and not hold back for fear that it will not be reciprocated. Because every time we get involved in love, it is magnified within every cell of our body. The more we give of ourselves, the more love expands within our hearts.

Knowing this, I invite you to contemplate your relationship with love in the coming days. Where are you holding love in your life? How is this serving you? Does it provide a sense of security, protection or comfort? Are you willing to break down the barriers that prevent the flow of love? Love does not have to be something expressed between two people, but can be revealed through our life purpose, our hobbies and our attitude. If you are looking for more love in your life, let go of the barriers that prevent you from expressing it. See if you can find the place within you overflowing with love and direct it to something or someone. Love is a similar bank account that accrues interest with each deposit made. Because if we really want to know what it means to love, we must first experience it without reservation while we have the opportunity.