All you need is love?

Love. People spend countless hours, money, and attention in their search for it. I think the search for love, the feelings it creates, and the loss of it are the primary motivations for almost everything we do. Why do we do everything in our power to twist it and reject it?

I'm single, but I'm sure that many married people can identify with what I have to say. I think it is a given that we all want love in our lives. We all want to feel that unconditional acceptance that comes from being understood and appreciated by those who love us. We want it so badly that the fear of losing it once we have it can cause us to do all sorts of crazy things. But so many of us, if not all of us at one point or another, let that fear to cause us to act in ways that deny, destroy, or push away the love we so desperately seek. As a single person, I have seen this time and time again. And it's sad.

We all need to get real about the love that we want and need in our lives. Let's just admit that love is important and start taking the steps to clear away the clutter and roadblocks we have set up for ourselves in manifesting it. Who cares what did what to whom in the past? The past is just that- the past- and all you do by continuing to allow the past to dictate your present is to continue to give those injuries more destructive power.

Let's look at an example and I think you'll see how silly it really is. You fall in love and get used/dumped/hurt, losing the love you thought you had. You get angry and defensive and tell yourself that you won't let anyone get close to you like that again so that you won't get hurt again. However, the thing that hurt so much was the absence of love, the loss of it, right? What do you do when you hold yourself apart from people and refuse to get close? You prevent yourself from getting close enough to love someone or for them to love you. So you purposely create an absence of love. You are creating exactly the same situation that you found so hurtful and damaging. Does that make any sense?

There are no guarantees in life; not all loves end happily ever after. You might get hurt. But don't ensure that you never have the love you want and need in your life by preventing it from ever happening. Take a chance; write a new story on the blank page you are given each day. Let your past hurts stay in the past; don't carry them into your future. Don't wait for a person to come along and jump through hoops to prove themselves; make the changes to yourself that will allow love to enter into your life. The only person whose actions you can control is your own. Give others the same opportunities to make mistakes you would like them to give you and do not expect more from them than they have the right to expect from you. Practice giving every day so that it becomes a habit, not a tit for tat.

Unless there is an odd number of people in the world, there is someone out there for everyone. Someone to love and be loved by us. Love is there- just open your heart and mind, then let it in.