What’s love got to do with it?

love: a simple little word that tends to cause all manner of chaos once uttered

At one time, I believed in the search for this trouble maker and thought obtaining something so rare and elusive would result in untold happiness. Surely there must be someone out there, my partner and equal, and together we would redefine the word to where we were the epitome of what poets and songwriters had been trying to describe since time began.

Reality has shown something quite different from what I expected…

Earlier this week I was talking to someone I hold dear and we were discussing the gentleman I’ve been happily enamored with for the past few months. At one point, the question Do you love him? was asked. Without giving you my answer in its entirety, I did point out there’s a difference between loving someone and being in love with them.

Consider this for a moment: every person you encounter has a different way to determine between loving and being in love, just as for each one that person has claimed to love, there will be different criteria used before deciding. Now let’s go a step further: person A has decided they truly are in love with person B, but B hasn’t even considered such a possibility yet. Should A say it or wait for B to make the first proclamation?

What happened to taking the risk? Are we that afraid of the possibility of not hearing what we want? Have we become cowards when faced with the unknown? Is it really a fear of rejection or simply fear itself?

It’s quite jumbled and confusing if you try to analyze the different possibilities; the entire experience is quite maddening! And this, boys and girls, is why communication is so important.

Not that long ago, I kept almost everything locked away, not sharing important things for fear of upsetting the other person. You have no idea how much I lost and there are still nights I wonder how life would be if I didn’t let fear run the show. Thankfully I learned my lesson and, if anything, I think I can now be accused of sharing too much…and probably should be fitted for a muzzle before too long. Leave it to me to not settle on the happy medium, but go to extremes. :-)

The truth is, life is a gamble, filled with many worthwhile things, but only if you leave your comfort zone and take the risk. Take a moment and ask yourself what do you have to lose. Even more important, take another look to see all you stand to gain.