Love's Journey
Love is not a destination,
it's a journey undertaken,
full of bumps in winding roads
we cannot navigate alone.
The path grows dark, the road is long,
lined with pride and righted wrongs.
It seems the pitfalls rise to meet
our naked, unprotected feet.
And so, we stumble and we fall
because this journey takes our all.
It leaves us spent, in search of hope
or anything to help us cope.
We scratch and claw with battered hands
adorned by shiny wedding bands,
these symbols of eternal love
sanctified by God above.
We try to get back to the place
where love lit up our lover's face;
the light so bright we could not see
how hard this odyssey would be.
But as we fight, we glimpse the hand
on which we placed that wedding band
and gaze upon that face anew,
just wondering what we would do
if we should lose that lover's touch,
not hear the voice we love so much,
'til once again we realize
the value of this blessed prize.
As much as we would like to think so these days, I truly do not believe that love is all about feeling good all of the time. It's not possible for one person to always feel good anymore than it is possible for one person to make another person happy all the time. There are days when people who love each other fight. There are days when they don't want to talk to each other. There are days when they ask themselves what they are doing together in the first place.
Love, whether between lovers, siblings, parents and children or friends, is what all human beings want. It is also the hardest thing to do. It takes work, time, energy and everything else we have to give. It can never work if it is one-sided and it is not fulfilling if taken for granted. It is also impossible to demonstrate once the object of our love is no longer around to accept it.
If there is true love between you and someone in your life, love that person today. You may not have the chance tomorrow. And never forget that before you can love that other person on any given day, you have to love, respect, trust and be good to yourself.
What have you done today to show the people you love (including yourself) how important they are to you? Regardless of how good a job they are now doing or have done in the past demonstrating their love to you, when you lie down to sleep tonight, will you know that you know that you know that you loved to the best of your ability today?
That's my goal - to know that I have demonstrated to those who love me how much I love and cherish them. Every day. Every chance I get.
