Now I don't claim to be an expert on the subject, but I do know this. Love comes to us in many forms. It is not a weakness to love or be loved, but a strength. It can make the most calm & collected act like bumbling teenagers on their first date. And finally, I know that it is beautiful.
It`s easy to love. The first day you come into this world, you know how to love. It`s not the last time you love either, but over time it does become harder. As time goes by we tend to build up our armor to defend ourselves from the possibility of being hurt. We don't want to feel all the pain and heartache that life puts us through so we build ourselves a fortress, so that nothing bad gets in. Unfortunately, this means you also keep out the good.
I, myself, have many, many, many of these walls built up. I will slowly let you in, but one misstep and you're out in the cold. Luckily I have people willing to tear down those walls, even if it is brick by brick. But I know that the last wall needs to be torn down by me. You see, sad as it is, I find it hard to love myself. I am awkward, geeky, shy, stubborn, picky, obsessive to the point of possible OCD, skittish...the list goes on. But where I find faults, my friends and family see positives. They see the uniqueness that is me, and for that I am grateful.
"Love. You can learn all the math in the 'Verse, but you take a boat in the air that you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens. Makes her a home."`-Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, SerenityAs I've said there are many shapes and forms love can take (I'll only describe a few so as not to bore you.). The first for me is unconditional love. This is, for me, where you don't even have to think about it, you just know that you love them. I know without a doubt that I love my parents, my brother, all of my family, and those I consider family. It just comes naturally.
Then there is the type of love that was earned. Now I know it sounds a little weird but hear me out My close friends fall into this category. When I first met them I was friendly and a little shy, not saying much. After time had past, I slowly opened up to them and they made their way into my heart, never to be replaced.
There is love for oneself, which can be hard to do in a world that is constantly trying to bring you down. However, it is not impossible. (Love and impossible don't even belong in the same sentence) It takes time and little by little you can watch it grow.
Finally there is what I consider "True Love" This would be the way you feel when you meet "The One" I don't know how to describe this feeling, as I've never felt it myself, but I assume that I'll know when I know. And while I've never felt it, I have seen it. I got to watch my best friend of twenty years fall head over heels in love.
Sure, like anything, she had a bad start; had a bad relationship or two, but she took from those a learned what she wanted and didn't want from a guy and even herself. And even with her "bad start" the moment she told me about this guy, I knew something was different. I could tell by looking at her face as she talked about him. Weeks later when she told me she broke it off because she was scared, she turned to me and said, "You know what was the sweetest part? When I told him I wasn't ready for a serious relationship he just looked at me and said `I'll wait`." That`s how I knew he was different too. In less than a month they got back together. That was a couple years ago, and just last month they got engaged.
That`s how I want my own love story to be told, that I'll have my own knight in shining armor, or at least, a guy with duct tape, glue, and a toolbox to fix any broken parts of my heart.
`"You know when I said I knew little about love? That wasn't true. I know a lot about love. I've seen it, centuries and centuries of it, and it was the only thing that made watching your world bearable. All those wars. Pain, lies, hate... It made me want to turn away and never look down again. But when I see the way that mankind loves... You could search to the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful. So yes, I know that love is unconditional. But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and strangely easy to mistake for loathing, and... What I'm trying to say, Tristan is... I think I love you. Is this love, Tristan? I never imagined I'd know it for myself. My heart... It feels like my chest can barely contain it. Like it's trying to escape because it doesn't belong to me any more. It belongs to you. And if you wanted it, I'd wish for nothing in exchange - no gifts. No goods. No demonstrations of devotion. Nothing but knowing you loved me too. Just your heart, in exchange for mine."` - Yvaine StardustI don't know of a more beautiful thing in the whole of time and space than love. It can bring such joy, wonder, and hope to our lives. It can cure a multiple of ills from a scraped knee to a broken heart. Love is timeless. It has no beginning or end, it just is.
I hope you take this to heart and go and spread some love out in the world, and open yourself up to receiving it; Even if it means getting hurt. It will be worth it, I promise.
