We all know how it feels, to be loved. You feel supported, you feel strengthened, you feel safer. You know that the person who loves you is someone you can trust. You can share with them anything about yourself or your life, and you know that person loves you enough to accept it and take it with the seriousness you feel it deserves. That’s the beauty of true, unconditional love.
Love is synonymous of respect, peace, harmony, understanding, protection, acceptance, growth. It really is the essence of a beautiful life.
There are many things on this earth that you can potentially love. You can love a favorite teddy bear, you can love a song, you can love the morning sunshine, you can love the beach, you can love your pet. When you love something, you appreciate it, you are grateful for it, you think of giving back to it rather than just taking away, and you wish to protect it so it doesn’t come to any harm, so it can keep being beautiful and healthy, so you can keep loving it.
Love is the essence of understanding. When you are in a relationship with someone, and you love them, you appreciate the fact that that person can go through good days and bad days, because they are as human as you are. You know deep down that the person you love has good traits and bad traits. They make you smile but they can also annoy you at times. You can laugh together, and argue together. You know this about them, and you understand this, and accept it. You know the love will help see you through difficult times together, and it will make the journey all the more enjoyable in good, easy times.
What does this mean?
We must focus on this kind of love (and not the obsessive, addictive kind of ‘love’) when we say that love is universal. Although the object may differ, the essence itself stays the same. It is a feeling that we all can feel, regardless of nationality, gender, age, appearance, beliefs.
There is no reason to question it, because deep down we all understand it. We can see an elderly couple embrace, and we admire them, we find them sweet. We see two young children hold hands, and we, once again, find them sweet. We understand that love is fundamentally pure, it is a pure feeling, a pure appreciation for someone.
None of us would want someone to take away our ability to feel, and our ability to love. It’s a personal feeling that belongs to you, and you alone know exactly who you love, and why, because we are all different, we are all unique, and none of us have exactly the same tastes, experiences, desires or ambitions.
And as human beings we are allowed the freedom of choice – you are free to love whom you choose. You are free to choose what clothes to wear when you wake up. You are free to choose what music to listen to, what articles to read, what videos to watch.
And we see it as a universal ‘wrong’ when another human being takes away these choices from you, and forces you to live your life as they see fit. No matter how many years have passed, these basic human ideals have remained in place.
But it’s disrespectful to impose our own views on the lives of other human beings. We can exchange ideas, talk about things, and together, either reach an agreement or agree to disagree. That’s a sign of respect that all human beings deserve. This is the respect we must use when we see, hear or read about any human being when they express their love for another human being. Regardless of gender.
Something to think about:
When we read romantic fiction we don’t categorize it as heterosexual love or ‘straight’ love. But we do categorize homosexual love or ‘gay’ love as a different kind of romance.
But the love itself is not different. The feeling of love between a man and a man, a woman and a man, or a woman and a woman – there is no difference. Every human being has a heart that works tirelessly to pump blood to every corner of our body. And although there’s a discrepancy as to where feelings are located on our physical body, we all understand that a great part of what we feel is associated to the general area of and around our chest.
The point is – regardless of gender, we all have the same basic human ability to love. Because love is universal – it’s not limited to gender. We all can give the gift of love to anyone we choose. And we all deserve to be respected for this choice, purely because we are human beings. Any type of discrimination is not necessary. We all know it hurts to be bullied, don’t we?
Why does all this matter?
It’s important for us to understand that any kind of peace on this earth will not exist without the gift of love. And we really can’t afford to limit the power of love. Not when there are still, to this date, issues such as war, famine, discrimination, poverty. All of which are fed by hatred, misunderstandings, impatience, disrespect, injustice.
If we want our world to move on to something better, if we really want to make a difference, we will know that love is the only tool that will dissipate all these negative, problematic situations humanity is currently facing.
It sounds very simple. A single feeling bears the power to solve our problems as a civilization. That’s the magic of love. True, unconditional, universal love. It has the power to heal. To give protection, respect, understanding. It’s what we need, all of us. As a basic, fundamental, individual need. But even more than that – it’s also a social need, and an international, global need.
With this knowledge, we understand that any limitation of love pushes our evolution backwards rather than forwards. And we equally know that the acceptance of and respect for love will help us evolve faster. It will be the foundation for peace not only within our own hearts, but for our collective, global consciousness.