LOVE

“Love is patient; love is kind
and envies no one.
Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude;
never selfish, not quick to take offense.
There is nothing love cannot face;
there is no limit to its faith,
its hope, and endurance.
In a word, there are three things
that last forever: faith, hope, and love;
but the greatest of them all is love.”

The above is a Biblical quotation and while I’m not in the habit of quoting the Bible, I have never been able to find a better definition of love, than this one.

I’ve often thought to myself, how ready we are to express negative emotions like anger, resentment, rage, but how reluctant to say “I love you dearly,” “You mean the world to me,” “My life would be emptier without you,” “I treasure your friendship” to someone we love. Why is it so much harder to express love? I think it’s because loving someone for no good reason at all, with no expectation of being loved in return takes enormous courage – that kind of loving brings with it, vulnerability.

I hope to live every day as if it were my last, because eventually (I hope in the fullness of time) one day it will be, and I don’t want to go to my grave without having expressed the love I have for my family, dear friends and those I hold close to my heart at all times.

If that makes me vulnerable to being hurt, or ridiculed, or rejected – to my way of thinking, it’s infinitely worth the risk.

And so to all of you dear friends, from my heart, I wish each and every one of you happiness and above all else, love and good health, because when you have these two, you have everything.