LOVE IN ALL ITS FORMS

Love. What is love anyway? We try so hard to make sense of it, and we want, so desperately, to label and put it into words. Most times, we fail to do so and realize that true love is beyond definition.
Try as we might, we can’t quite pinpoint exactly what it means to love someone. To know what that word means or how it feels or becomes intangible in our lives. When we think of love, we think of butterflies, the way our heart jumps out of our chests, or the weakness that happens in our knees.
But love is way more than that. Because in this lifetime, we can experience love in different ways.

FRIENDLY LOVE

They have been there even before our first crushes. We provide each other with a different kind of support that no lover ever could. Kindred spirits, soulmates, and the people who see each other’s hearts. With no contract or labels, the promise to stand by each other is a lifelong commitment.

 

FIRST LOVE

From puppy love, first love can escalate to something more. This person teaches how to put someone else above yourself. This love also teaches you about pain and how strong you actually can be. No one ever forgets their first love.

 

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

That “what if” person. The one you think of when you’re alone with your thoughts.  You looked at this person and saw a future. But for one reason or the other, it didn’t work out. This is the person you might have ended up with in another life, just not this one.

 

THE WHIRLWIND ROMANCE

The love that just happens out of nowhere. Someone who comes into your life at a point you didn’t expect. The person shows you a whole new world, keeps you on your toes and makes you giddy with excitement. Sometime though, these romances end as quickly as they started.

 

THE ONE WHO CHOOSES YOU AND STAYS

The kind of love that you are not willing to give up. You’ve been through it all―whether it’s losing a job or having a child, buying a house―they were there. You cannot imagine life without this person. This person is the one you love so deeply. The one who works with you through the problems and doesn’t walk away from that first fight. Their love feels like the right love.

A PARENTS’ LOVE

The unconditional love so pure and natural, the kind of love that will encourage you, cheer you on, realize your potential, call you out for your wrongdoings and be with you every single day of your life. It knows no end. This is the kind of love that you will come to appreciate even more when you become a parent yourself. This love will always be your home.

LOVE FOR CHILD

It’s one of the most genuine sources of love and boundless joy. Parenthood is a cloud that hovers over you at all times—sometimes bright, fluffy, and purely innocuous, other times, darker bringing some heavy rains. No matter what, no matter when, no matter where, a parent will love her child forever and always.

 

SELF LOVE

Why is it that we can fall head over heels in love with a perfect stranger in a heartbeat, yet when it comes to loving ourselves, we endlessly struggle. You’re so used to being you, that it can be difficult to see yourself in a different perspective. You are lovely, and you are kind. You are smart, you are funny, you are brave, and you are brilliant. You are magic. Contrary to what your inner demons may say, you are so much more than enough, and you deserve love in all its forms.

 

Love is someone seeing the beauty in you and wanting to bask in it every day all day. Love is not guaranteed. We are not owed love. That’s why when we get it, we know how lucky we are and hold on to it for dear life.

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