Poets, philosophers, wise men, and young lovers have searched throughout the ages for a mastery of love. Mastery may never come but some understanding may. Love is one of the most powerful forces of life itself. Here we discuss the mystery of love to help you better enjoy its beauty and avoid its seemingly inevitable pain.
Robert Burns shows us the sweetness of love in A Red, Red Rose:
“O my luve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June:
O my luve’s like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.”
And Shakespeare warns us in A Midsummer Night’s Dream that
“The course of true love never did run smooth.”
So then, it seems that love may be a rose: beautiful, fragrant, wild, and free yet all the while unpredictable in its growing and always with thorns among the buds. A relationship is a garden…with its roses and its weeds. A garden requires tending to survive the seasons, the droughts; the encroaching weeds. Loving gardeners wisely tend their flowers and reap the efforts that they sow. And so it is in love, the efforts that you sow are the loving results that you enjoy. How does your loving garden grow?
Love entices you into its arms but it is enough to hold you there for only so long. You may grow restless with reality, with the day to day tedium of work. You may itch long to have the carefree delights of passion again…to fall in love all over again just for the feeling. If you fall for that, you will find yourself moving from relationship to relationship always in search of what you only find in the beginning. Love, true long-term love requires more than just being there. It requires that you invest in your relationship; that you work with your partner to succeed. You must create a new love that is deeper and stronger than the fleeting thrill of passion.
Together you can build a bond that no one or no thing can break. You can be comfortable in the safety of your relationship. And you can grow in your shared understanding. You can achieve your dreams with your loving partner by your side. Then you are truly in love. This is the opportunity and challenge of love.
Recommended Reading: “The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm
