Love
A friend asked me to define love. What does love mean to me. So I’ll give you a minute to think about it… define love… What does it mean to you? Go ahead. I’ll wait…
Ah… you are back.
While you were gone… I looked up the definition of love so we can set a baseline. This is what I found. “Love is an intense feeling of deep affection.”
Boom! Short, sweet and to the point.
On to my definition.
For me, simply put, love is putting someone else’s needs before your own. Love is going out of your way to do something for someone. Love is to sometimes sacrifice your happiness, for the happiness of someone else. Love is to put them first.
Maybe, this is why it hurts so much when someone you love hurts you. You put them and their needs before you and your needs. You gave them your heart. You were vulnerable and the took advantage of that.
Maybe, that’s why they say you must love yourself before you can love another. Yeah, yeah… there are all kinds of books about love your self first… and all kinds of books about don’t love yourself first. You make your own decision. But it makes sense to me. When I put others first, I will get hurt. It’s not a matter of if… it’s a matter of when. This is why every day I’m working on myself. I’m working on being a kinder, more understanding human being. I do this so that I understand that WHEN I get hurt… that was a choice THEY made, and not a reflection of my efforts or love.
I the immortal words of those 80’s poets, The J. Geils Band, “Love Stinks”.
So, there you have it… Love stinks, and for some reason we choose to do it, and we do it every day. Those that know me, know I only know how to do things one way. 130%
I will continue to love, and I will continue to get hurt. I will continue to try to be kind and understanding, because the world needs more kindness. And the times that love and kindness is reciprocated, it fills my heart with joy and wonder.
It’s a new day. Let’s go forward and be kind. Let’s love (putting someone’s needs before ours) another human being, and make their day a little brighter. And when we get hurt… let’s help each other heal.
Go forward (that thought to be published soon), and do great things today.
~Koval
