“Love is the essence of human experience and emotion. It is at the root of all and everything we, as humans, do. Without love, what do we have to live for?” This anonymous quote speaks the ultimate truth about our purpose as humans. I find it difficult to imagine what life would be like without knowing love and experiencing its elation and its cruelty.

Even with the understanding of love’s importance, often we make great effort to fill our lives with material things and entertaining events but neglect the very act of loving the people that we’ve been blessed to know. How does this happen? Well, truthfully, it doesn’t happen overnight; drifting away from our love relationships occurs over time and with little awareness. I’ve seen this happen in my own life; fortunately, I have discovered the key to keeping love a priority – gratefulness.

When you’ve been given people to love, you have a responsibility to do what it takes to keep that relationship going. One thing that I do to focus my energy on my loved ones is thank God for them every day. This one act reminds me that they are a wonderful gift. Gifts are to be cherished, cared for, and understood. It’s the “knowing” part that gives us a feeling of connectedness – the emotion of love.

Another important aspect of knowing love is knowing yourself. The lack of understanding what’s inside of you is the best way to repel true love and those who seek it. Our core being carries memories of the positive and negative emotions and events of our lives. These can hinder the release of love to another person simply because we don’t trust ourselves or the other person to engage in a healthful relationship. Even if a person decides they are willing to take the risk, it’s almost inevitable they will hit a brick wall in time, causing a rift in the relationship. This is why we see over 50% of marriages end in divorce. In most of these cases the one who held back or sabotaged the relationship is not even aware of the reasons behind their behavior.

Knowing love means knowing commitment. It doesn’t just end if it’s real because the kind of love that never fails is unconditional. How do you find and keep this kind of love? Good question. I’m not sure that there is any one answer that makes it clear. The only thing I know is it’s a spiritual event that when embraced can bring a deeper understanding of love’s nature. And though this experience feels perfect, we, as humans, are not. As ironic as it seems, humanity always gets in the way.

In our foolishness we can’t shun love altogether; instead, we are obligated to continue our primary method of procreation that tends to include the loving of another. It is smart to make sure that we are prepared for love by first obtaining happiness with ourselves though. This process is never ending and one that we can embrace at any time as well as teach our children before they embark on a journey to know love. And so the quest continues…

“May the love hidden deep inside your heart find the love waiting in your dreams. May the laughter that you find in your tomorrow wipe away the pain you find in your yesterdays.”