“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”
~ Dr. Seuss

Your mind loves conditionally: when your Sweetie has just fixed a great meal, the rent is paid and you aren’t facing a difficult decision together, all is well.

But the heart has no choice but to love. It loves when your lover is late for dinner, cheats on you or even leaves you. Hearts are like that, they don’t have the luxury, the choice, the padding or protection to love or not. They love unconditionally, which is a scary way to live. But living by heart, without a choice but to love, is living fully—feeling fully—risking everything but getting everything in return.

Loving unconditionally, letting your heart lead, leads to living passionately, powerfully, and never carefully. It allows you to let go of the reins on the ride of a lifetime, rather than resisting or struggling ag.

It isn’t easy to love, but it isn’t hard either. To love fully you have to give up the choice not to love.

A love story

Cupid leaned over and whispered in my ear: ” Got ya.”

Cupid’s arrow hit hard; I had no choice but to love her. When it comes to love there is no choice. I didn’t even notice I had been smitten until it was too late. But I caught myself gazing at the full moon too long. Discovered myself welcoming all emotions, not just positive ones, and as I was walking home from work my feet didn’t touch the pavement. I was walking three inches above it.

If that weren’t enough I was thinking alternately about how to feed the poor, house the homeless, love the unloveable, and puppies. But mostly I was picturing the strawberry jam on the corner of her mouth, how I would do anything to make her laugh and how much I wish I had met her four seconds earlier.

Choice is for rational folks not lovers. Lovers have no choice; there are only prisoners of love, and though the cell doors aren’t locked lovers remain incarcerated, indefinitely pondering if two roses smell the same.

There is no cure for love, in fact love may be the cure for life.

Love takes the edge off having to get the kids to soccer practice, root canals and working for a living. Love makes country music sound good.

Love makes trees taller, problems smaller and feverish busyness kick back like a Southerner in a rocking chair on a summer day with the chores done and a hunk of seeded watermelon.

Yes, seed spitting is on the love to do list, as is watching the sun set and welcoming any weather.

A one night stand with love would be better than a life alone, or with someone who loves you less. Love is never a distraction, a coming attraction or a second job. It’s a full time passionate blossoming into the moment.

What matters isn’t how long someone loves you, that’s second place. But the blue ribbon, first prize, goes to who loves the most.

Love can’t even attempt to be cool. It’s too hot for that. It eats obstacles for breakfast, practicality for lunch, and rationality for dinner. It snacks on what, to non-lovers, are insurmountable problems. Love is a solvent for the little clusters of ills and oh, ohs that minds spin out.

Cupid only whispers, but when she does lovers hear and obey. They yield choices, surrendering to soft words spoken just once by an imp who knows love and whose arrow is true.

~

Author: Jerry Stocking

Editor: Travis May

Image: Pixabay