Courage

Opening yourself to love is the ultimate act of courage.

Although nothing feels better than that initial swoosh of warmth and total immersion in joy, eventually there will be almost unbearable amounts of sorrow and pain, because loving someone for real means accepting them for who they are in good times and bad.

At the very worst, one day you will lose them. If not to some worldly thing, then to that ultimate betrayal, death. None of us can escape that.

And yet it is worth it because nothing is as rich or fulfilling or meaningful as loving someone.

Learning to live with the loss of loved ones is the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life, but I've learned they don't have to be here for me to love them.

Love crosses all distance, all obstacles, everything.