"With a Conscience" - "What's love got to do with it?"

 

        

        The very first words out of my husband's mouth when we met were, 'Do you need to be rescued?"   At that time, I wasn't sure.  I was not necessarily in a "need to be rescued mode" but I was at a horrid singles dance and well, maybe, just maybe he was right.  Maybe, just maybe, he needed to be rescued from this dance too.  Fate plays its hand and well...23 years later,  those words still resonate.  

        I have been thinking about how we show our love to those we love and how careful we need to be in terms of vulnerability.  To find love, one needs to be comfortable with the idea of being vulnerable.  I have to say that this also applies to those we love in our families too. Vulnerability and love does not just apply to a marriage.  We often need to turn a "deaf ear" to a great deal of the dialogue we share with loved ones if we are to maintain our love of the relationships.  This applies to marriages, family, and friendships.  We need to allow for the honesty and the truth that may surface, even if it's difficult to voice what we are feeling.

        Sometimes our love for another is skewed.  We often are afraid to hurt their feelings OR even more importantly, we are afraid to make ourselves vulnerable by speaking the truth.  Here's a tip...Honesty makes relationships flourish.  Honesty makes relationships of any kind endure.  The relationships that fail, fail because our values are challenged.  We need to speak up. Relationships fail because we do not take the time to listen...And in any relationship we need to listen.  All relationships survive the hurdles if we can listen. That is the highest level of love we can provide to anyone we love.  I have found this to be true in so many ways.  To listen is the highest compliment you can provide to anyone.  To demand that someone listen is also one of the most difficult things we can do.  AND...the truth that evolves perpetuates our ability to learn from that truth.  The truth can hurt but it can also help a relationship grow...That is what love does.  Love helps us grow.

        There is no set solution to the complications we experience when we love anyone.  We can only admit that love has saved us.  Love makes us more honest and more courageous.  Love gives us the strength to take chances and well...perhaps...be rescued.