Have you ever been in love?
Whether it's a romantic love, platonic, the casual, puppy love, or love that you have for your family and friends, love in its simplest sense is being humble.
And when we love, there is a risk of being humiliated. For an unrequited love, it is such a dilemma for a person to confess his/her love to that person, who neither loves him/her nor cares for him/her. Sometimes, we become so afraid of telling/confessing our love for the fear that it's not mutual. Yet perhaps, that is what is love is, after all, to conquer fear, to overcome fear. Love makes a person unstoppable.
Fear is not a subatomic particle of love. Love knows no fears, it just keeps on pressing on no matter what happens. Even if humiliation comes, love runs towards the horizon, bearing in mind its very goal: to be itself. And as it run, the bearer lets go of every possibility, including the possibility of being itself. That's why most mothers receive their very awards; during labor, the mother has to forget her identity - her posture, her aura, her makeup, her hair, and pose - everything about her, just to give birth of the one she loves.
When a person falls in love, or knows how to love, it should be celebrated. A person who does not know how to love is scarier than the ones featured in Halloweens!
And yet, what dazzles me the most about love is that it is patient. It does not hurry; it keeps an eye, or the five senses to the person, and it waits. It understands the changes that happen within and around it. It edifies, it builds, it connects. And some would say that pressure brings out the best in every person; but for me, people are not material things. We are living things. That's why there is love - everything should be out of love. Love strikes the balance. A tree bears fruit not because the owner puts pressure on that tree, but because it's full, it's healthy, it's nourished. Pressure is very mechanical, commercial, and frustrating. Pure love knows time, proper time.
Lastly, no, love should never be linked to regrets. When we did something for the ones that we love, we did it because we love. We do things because of love - reciprocity is no longer an issue. We regret because we expect something in return. Nothing can beat love but love itself.
Love makes us humble, patient, fearless, unstoppable, and makes us human.
"We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters."-1Jn 3:16
P.S. Love does not make us superheroes. Love is as simple as saying hello and as difficult as forgiving. That's giving up.
