Love, what is it really?

I recently have had wonderful conversations with old friends about love. Maybe being in love is taken for granted to much. I think people fall "in love" with their significant other way to quickly. I think love is a huge word that shouldn't be thrown around lightly. Don't get me wrong, I say love a lot but, I believe there are many different kinds of love. For example the way I love my nice warm comfy bed is completely different than the way I love my little brothers.

It is easy to talk about love. Easy to write blogs about it, easy to talk about it on stages, write love songs about it. Love, in that setting, is an idea, and ideas make for great conversations-inspiring even. It's another thing entirely to love people. I suppose it's because ideas are more comfortable than actions. It is much more challenging gig to be a person who loves other people.

Love is a CHOICE. It is an action.

Love is, as far as I can tell, the most mature response to any situation-the pinnacle of what it means to be truly human. Love is a wrench in the wheels of cause and effect, of reactionary living, of casual imitation. Yes, speed and events are all around us in the information age, but motion, is rare. Love is the movement.

You have to make room in your heart and your life for things that matter. It is not enough to dream. The dreaming comes easy. You have things to do. You have choices to make. It is the same with loving another person. It is not enough to say you do, or to love them when it's convenient. you have to love them every day. You have to learn their story. You have to never stop learning it. You have to listen. You have to cherish and protect.

Maybe also because true love requires risk. requires chance. we give our hearts away... we talk about forever. we believe. but many things end this side of heaven. we are fragile. our hearts break. we don't know how to stop something that we said would last forever...

I guess it all comes down to this. I think maybe I was created to respond to love. Like gas for a car or food when you're hungry... it just made sense. In the middle of a life where a lot of things don't make sense, and a lot of things are hard, love makes sense to me. It has the power to heal, change, hope... it makes life better.

But i think there's a lot to be thankful for. we're alive right now. we are breathing. we are loved. our lives are important. we have voices and stories and plans and dreams and ideas. we have hope. we will wake up tomorrow to a day that has never been known. we are living a life that has never been lived. we are here for a reason. we are here for more than going to school. we exist to love and be loved. life comes back. things do change. storms do pass. i believe that so much right now. i have been waking up to it lately. life can be beautiful again