A Peculiar Kind of Love

It was love at first sight. I knew how the boy felt who clambered breathlessly through his front door and cried, 'Dad! I'm in love!'

'How do you know it's love?' his father asked.

'Because, when I kissed her good night, her dog bit me and I never even felt it 'til I got home!'

I can relate to him, because even without the dog-bite test, I knew love when it bit me. And it must have bit her, too, because a few weeks later she asked me to marry her! Before long, though, I began to notice something 'peculiar' about her love. She sometimes said, 'I love you too much to hold on to you.' And she said, 'I want you to be happy ... even if that means we won't be together.'

Another time she said, 'I love you so much I want to let you go. Don't feel tied to me.'

Talk like that sounded peculiar to me. You see, my love was a little different. 'I love you so much I want to always keep you with me,' better described my kind of love. 'I love you too much to ever let you go,' was more typical of how I felt.

My love was a hanging-on kind of love. Hers was a letting-go kind of love. My love worried about what it might do to me if I lost her. Her love worried about what it might do to us if she hung on too tightly.

One day she returned from a doctor's appointment distraught. 'He told me I can't have babies,' she said. Her swollen eyes overflowed. 'I know you want children. I'll understand if you don't want to marry,' she continued. 'I love you too much to keep you.' There again, that peculiar letting go kind of love.

All of this happened many years ago and, in the meantime, I have learned something about love. Love can sometimes be about hanging on. But it can also be about letting go. It is as simple and as difficult as that.

And I learned something else, too. The doctor was wrong about the babies!

How about you? Is your love one of hanging on, or of letting go?

Written by Steve Goodier

Steve Goodier publishes This is Your Life Support System, a free e-newsletter sharing life, love and laughter. You can visit Steve's website at ... lifesupportsystem >>>

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Do You Still Have Hope?

If you can look at the sunset and smile, ten you still have hope ...

If you can find beauty in the colours of a small flower, then you still have hope ...

If you can find pleasure in the movement of a butterfly, then you still have hope ...

If the smile of a child can still warm your heart, then you still have hope ...

If you can see the good in other people, then you still have hope ...

If the rain breaking on a roof top can still lull you to sleep, then you still have hope...

If the sight of a rainbow still makes you stop and stare in wonder, then you still have hope ...

If the soft fur of a favoured pet still feels pleasant under your fingertips, then you still have hope ...

If you meet new people with a trace of excitement and optimism, then you still have hope ...

If you give people the benefit of a doubt, then you still have hope ...

If you still offer your hand in friendship to others that have touched your life, then you still have hope ...

If receiving an unexpected card or letter still brings a pleasant surprise, then you still have hope ...

If the suffering of others still fills you with pain and frustration, then you still have hope ...

If you refuse to let a friendship die, or accept that it must end, then you still have hope ...

If you look forward to a time or place of quiet and reflection, then you still have hope ...

If you still buy the ornaments, put up the Christmas tree or cook the turkey, then you still have hope ...

If you still watch love stories or want the endings to be happy, then you still have hope ...

If you can look to the past and smile, then you still have hope ...

If, when faced with the bad, when told everything is futile, you can still look up and end the conversation with the phrase ... 'yeah, but.' Then you still have hope.

Hope is such a marvellous thing. It bends, it twists, it sometimes hides, but rarely does it break. It sustains us when nothing else can and it gives us reason to continue and courage to move ahead, when we tell ourselves we'd rather give in.

Hope puts a smile on our face when the heart cannot manage. Hope puts our feet on the path when our eyes cannot see it. Hope moves us to act when our souls are confused of the direction.

Hope is a wonderful thing, something to be cherished and nurtured, and something that will refresh us in return and it can be found in each of us, and it can bring light into the darkest of places. So never lose hope!

Author Unknown

- Inspirational Quote -

Don't hold something in your arms that you could never hold in your heart
Author Unknown

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