Several of my friends and I have been saying lately that it takes a great deal of guts to open ourselves to love. Yes, love can be a risky business. Whether it is a love that has endured through many years or a new romance just getting started, or even puppy love, LOVE asks us to expose our vulnerabilities, our strengths and our weaknesses. Love is the uncovering of our masks and saying boldly "Here I am, warts and all." That takes guts!
In an long term love we may discover that we have found new masks to wear. Taking off these masks may be expressing how your differences you once thought sweet now drive you crazy. Or it may be being brave enough to say that you are feeling bored in the relationship and want to reconnect in new ways. Whenever we speak without our masks on we are daring to love more openly not only our beloved but also all the new parts of ourselves. Risky business, yes indeed, even for a long, enduring love.
The beginning stages of love can feel extremely risky. Do we dare to stay with this new love to discover what lies beneath their surface, and to discover all my feelings that arise at such a tender time. Maybe I will feel insecure, unsure and wary of being hurt - AGAIN. Where does one find the courage for that?
We never know where love will take us. Sometimes we get on that love train and have no clue where our destination will be. Sometimes we find ourselves waiting and waiting at the platform for the love train to stop for us. Sometimes we find ourselves on that train reaching for the controls or we may even find ourselves trying to jump out the window of a moving train. It matters not where we are on that train. What matters is how much honesty, authenticity and kindness I bring to myself and others wherever I am. I better pack a whole lot of courage in my suitcase for it takes an inner strength to be true to myself as I love another.
Where are you at this moment with love?
How do you show up with radical acceptance in this very moment?
Do you trust that you are headed in the right direction?
Will you be brave enough to peek out from behind your masks and befriend not only the mask but the person hiding beneath it.
Helen Keller said, "Life is a daring adventure or it is nothing at all? The same is true for love. It is a daring adventure. How daring will you be today?