Matters of the Heart

It has been quite awhile since I've fallen head over heels in love with someone that I had not been in a dating and serious relationship with.

As I recall, when I was younger, love came crashing down hard into my life and heart. Regularly and with lightening speed.

I could see someone casually a few times and suddenly feel the overwhelming intoxication of love course through my veins.

Relationships were shorter lived back then, but damn they were intense. From beginning to end.

This past decade I have fallen hard in love a number of times. Not a number of times each year, rather a number of times over the decade.

And lucky for me each person I have loved has equally loved me in return.

No one has not handed me their heart after I have confessed my feelings for them. Each person who confided their love of me to me, has also always been rewarded with my love in return.

There have been no "one directional" feelings not reciprocated. I have been fortunate in matters of the heart.

It has not been all easy, some of my heart throbs have hurt me, and I have broken a few hearts myself after awhile. Yet each person I shared that level of intimacy with, I've been committed to in some way for a fairly long period of time.

Short term romantic relationships where love is involved don't fall into my lap any more. And I am thankful for this. There is just not the time for me to maintain such a connection with someone.

Those who have my heart are all strong individuals who know how I feel about them, regardless of how often I see them.

I am blessed though to have found more recently the ability to differentiate between romantic, lustful, familial and friendship love. When I was younger, it was all rolled up into one package. The benefit to being able to share and celebrate all these different forms of love is of course that I am able to be more loving with more people, without having to make sacrifices of self or time.

How do you define love? Who is entitled to your love? Who do you accept love from? Is love something you have in abundance or an emotion with a limited supply?

The more I love, the more love that is handed to me.