“Truly loving another means letting go of all expectations. It means full acceptance, even celebration of another's personhood.”

It isn't easy to put aside judgment to attempt to see inside of someone. It takes a lot of pushing away of one's ego.  Love - well, loving someone for who they are, that's even more difficult. Loving someone and giving your heart often means that when it doesn't work out the way you'd hoped, it just feels like a piece of our heart has gone missing. Sometimes it has. Sometimes it never comes back. But the astonishing thing about the heart is it's surrounded by muscles, organs, vessels, blood. Each piece works together to rebuild. The tissue begins to form, the vessels begin to open, the organs begin to function again, the muscles protect. Those missing pieces we lose when we lose love just return in stronger form. I know it sucks, I know how much it hurts when it feels like your heart has been pulled out through your flesh - when it feels like someone's dirty shoes are standing atop it stomping the life out of it. The good news: It's just a feeling. Feelings are spontaneous, often reactionary. I just know that sometimes our hearts surprise us. 

The heart is the most beautiful organ in our bodies. It is full of hope and possibility, but above all, it has the ability to love. Love, by the way, is an unproven emotion. Scientifically it makes no sense. Sadness, happiness, anger - all emotions triggered by an action. But love, love is a spontaneous emotion that just occurs randomly without warning. It takes hold of us completely, sometimes makes us crazy, sometimes gives us peace. I have loved. I have felt so alive. I have experienced passion. I have experienced pain. But the only love I know that will never fade or falter is the love I have for my child. My biggest gift - ever. I look at her and I see my own life, know the heartbreak I've experienced or even caused and I hope she never has to go through that. That she is always strong and open-minded. That she loves and is always loved and encouraged.

Here's my fault: I have this volcano of emotion. I love so vastly and trust BUT somewhere along the lines, I began to lose hope in the romantic kind of love. Too much hurt, too many failures. Nothing is one-sided but I can only look at myself. So here's my advice to anyone almost about to walk away or maybe walked away: