love hurdle # 2

another big obstacle to the giving of love: feeling like it's not deserved. this is also a stingy stance, and also self-fulfilling. non-loving treatment begets a non-loving response, thus apparently validating the belief that love wasn't deserved in the first place.

the argument that love should be given only when it's deserved is obviously flawed. according to its own logic, by taking a non-loving stance we're making ourselves undeserving. it creates a chain where nobody is willing to be the first to give.

the only way to break this cycle is by loving even when "it's not deserved." in practicing this, one eventually realizes that the word "deserve" has nothing to do with love. love is simply a potential factor that can be applied to any situation.

similarly, when heat meets ice, ice melts. the ice isn't deserving or undeserving; it either comes apart in the presence of sufficient heat, or maintains its rigid structure in its absence. deciding not to love someone because they're "unworthy" is like walking up to a block of ice and saying: "these water molecules don't deserve heat because they're frozen."

the sincere gift of love (equally beneficial to the giver and receiver) melts all ice. those who seem undeserving, if loved sincerely and sufficiently, change and suddenly seem deserving. in reality, they were neither undeserving nor deserving; they were simply responding to the absence or presence of love. even the most intimidating blocks of ice can be melted given the correct application of sufficient heat.

but beware: learn to love yourself sincerely and completely before you test the veracity of this last statement. approaching a large block of ice without sufficient knowlege of the nature of heat and how to apply it adequately can result in frustration and disenchantment. one learns to liquify an iceberg by practicing with icicles.

love hurdles

if you're not loving everything that comes into your awareness, forgiving and compassionate towards even the "negative" things that present themselves both in the interior and exterior, it means a block to love is active within you.

you have the capacity to manifest love - towards yourself, other beings and even "things" - in its unhindered totality.

one great obstacle to love is the fear of exposure, vulnerability and the possibility of non-reciprocation. unless overcome, this block is self-fulfilling. fear of giving results in the non-expression of love; a stingy attitude that's unlikely to be met with love from others.

the giving of unconditional love is its own reward. love is complete in and of itself. it's a state of consciousness and a way of living in the world. when you love, you are the recipient of love, you are love.