Love, love, love...

I'm neither a poet nor a songwriter. I don't claim to know all that much about love. But I do know a couple of things.

Being loved should not be something you need to defend against. If being told that you are loved causes you to firmly slam your walls of defense into place, you really need to think about that.

It shouldn't hurt to be loved. Loving someone else can hurt. But being loved? That shouldn't hurt. If someone loving you hurts you, then, again, you really need to think about that.

Love isn't a threat or a sentence. If it feels that way, then you need to give it a good hard look.

Nothing is required of you when someone loves you. Just keep being you. Clearly that really is enough.

Love shouldn't come with conditions or expectations. If it does, it probably isn't love.

When someone opens their heart to you and lets you in, recognize the honor of that. You do not have to love the person back. You don't even have to understand why the person loves you. Just accept it for what it is.

Being loved is a gift.