Love and Pain

Love is the one thing that all of us strive for…

To love and to be loved is a basic human need.

But in our pursuit of love, we often neglect a fundamental truth: love, wholehearted love, comes at a cost. We cannot desire to love and be loved – truly, sincerely, wholeheartedly – without also being willing to accept and embrace the pain that inevitably will follow at some point along love’s way.

To love and to accept love means to be brave. We need to open ourselves up, fully. To let life touch and move us. But to carry an open heart means to make ourselves vulnerable, permeable. To truly love something or someone means to allow pain to pierce our hearts.

Why?

Because when I decide to love – truly love – I need to love with all my heart. And to love someone or something dearly means that I care. And I care lot. But as with all things in life, the people and things I hold dear are subject to change… And change means loss.

The loss of a state the person or thing has embodied – a state that is transient and will inevitably change in the course of time. And loss means grief. And to love wholeheartedly means to grieve wholeheartedly…

As much as I dare to love, as much pain I must dare face. For me, there is simply no way around it. Unless I choose to love only half-heartedly… But to love with only half my heart is to not really love at all. I may not feel the pain, but I also miss out on love’s inherent beauty and grace.

Am I brave enough to dare to love?

I honestly don’t know, but I choose to try – with all my might.