“Oh lovers, who are you looking for? Your beloved is right here.
She lives in your own neighborhood … She hides behind screens calling for you, while you search and lose yourself in the wilderness and the desert. Cease looking for flowers outside. There blooms a garden in your own home. While you go looking for trinkets, your treasure house awaits you in your own being.” ~ Rumi

We seem to be… so fascinated with “finding true love” — with locating our “Soulmate” — with finding that one person who will join us in life and “make it all better”.

And yet —

Whether we are married or engaged or single, Love will only truly find us once we start giving it away … Whether we are divorced or separated or broken-hearted, we are never alone — there is always someone nearby who desperately desires our Kindness.

Love is never “complicated” or confusing … You either give it or you don’t. It is impossible to be “led on” or “cheated on” while you are giving to another unconditionally … It is impossible to be “betrayed” by another while you are truly Loving them. And no relationship is ever “open” … You either Love the other with everything you’ve got, or you don’t have a relationship at all.

Love is not a square (“family”) or a triangle (“good sex”) or even a line (“romance”) … Love is choosing to walk so deeply in the other’s shoes for one moment that you feel their pain as your own — so deeply that you then do everything you can in that moment to soothe the same (some eye contact, a gentle smile, and a big hug are often enough).

So, today I remember these things. Today, even though I am “single”, I go forth to actively Care for everyone I encounter. Even though I am “alone”, I immerse myself in the scintillating Sea of Beauty that is Humanity.

LOVE is a verb …

… Got LOVE?

Filed under: Wisdoms from the Journey by Scaughdt