Love is a leap into the unknown, not a cautious dipping of the toe.

Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit

If you don't love yourself, you won't be happy with yourself.

If you can't love yourself, you can't love anyone else.

You can't give the love you do not have.

You can't make anyone love you without loving yourself first.

You have to love yourself before someone else can love you. The real truth is that many people learn to love themselves by first being loved by another.

If you never had a loving family, it's more difficult to build healthy self -esteem. Appropriate affection from another person may be the magic touch you need to actually believe that you are loveable.

When someone you admire gives his or her heart to you; it makes you feel cherished and in turn you learn to love yourself.

I know a number of people who were only able to develop self-love after someone who made them feel worthwhile came into their lives. For many, this love blossomed into a healthy and lifelong relationship. For others, it was an experience that put them on a path to finding their true purpose in life.

In many support groups, one of the things that helps a person to recover is that the group loves the individual until he or she can love themselves. This is also one of the ways in which therapy helps individuals to heal from depression, loss and addiction.

On the other hand, we all know people who are in love with themselves (they're called narcissists).

When someone is totally self-absorbed, he or she may not have room in their hearts to care for another human being. When looks, power or charisma begin to fade, many people with this issue find themselves very depressed and very alone.

If you put yourself before all others and ignore the needs and feelings of those closest to you, you'd better get a grip and change your behaviors before your loved ones take a hike. It's very difficult to keep giving love to someone who seldom or never returns it.

Disclaimer:?The information on this POST is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional advice. The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this article is for general information purposes / educational purposes only, and to ensure discussion or debate

Thank you?….When we give freely, we feel full and complete; when we withhold, we feel small, petty, impotent, and lacking.

We are meant to learn this great truth, that giving fulfills us, while withholding and trying to get causes us to feel empty and even needier. This truth runs counter to our programming, which drives us to try to get something from others to fulfill our neediness, only to end up even more needy, grasping, lacking, and unfulfilled.

For those people who are still struggling with loving themselves, getting reassurance and support from a loving partner is very important in the healing process. Reminding someone who is struggling with self-acceptance that he or she deserves to be loved is a true gift from the heart.

If you have to continually ask your partner if he or she loves you, or if your partner is never able to take in the love you have to share, both of you may want to seek some additional support. If you let the pattern continue, your relationship will not have the strength to or ability to grow.

Trusting that you are loved may be difficult for someone who has suffered a trauma or significant loss.

For those people, I suggest patience and persistence. I believe that the heart only has so much room and if it's filled with hurt, there is less room for love.

Love actually pushes out the sadness in our hearts, so by letting it in you not only get to feel the wonderful gift of being loved by another, you also get to release some old pain you may be holding on to.

Do you want to add a word or two?....

Money is not the only commodity that is fun to give. We can give time, we can give our expertise, we can give our love or simply give a smile. What does that cost? The point is, none of us can ever run out of something worthwhile to give.

Giving is an act of generosity.

Giving is sowing a seed.

The seed will produce great harvest of fruits.

Sometimes, one yearns for something. For the ultimate in happiness. I yearn for it, and don't know where to look for it any longer. And I don't know if I would recognize it if I found it. And the longer I look, the more selfish I grow.

?For I think only of my own happiness. I think I have lost the ability to make someone else happy. If I ever had it. And I suppose we can never be happy unless we can also give happiness.

I don't understand people who say, "I don't give this to people, or that to people; because nobody gave it to me before..." But that is exactly why you should give it! Because you know exactly what it feels like not to have it! And you never want another person to feel the way that you did!

Your comments?...

To be loved and to love, takes courage. To be fully seen is incredibly rare and breathtaking.

We lower our masks and see a celestial inner being. It is our full self -- the supernova as well as the black holes. Our fears and doubts. Our anger and joy...This is love.

Sometimes, when you're feeling you're lowest, the real you is summoned. And you understand, maybe for the first time ever, how grand you are, because you discover that vulnerable doesn't mean powerless, scared doesn't mean lacking in beauty, and uncertainty doesn't mean that you're lost.

?These realizations alone will set you on a journey that you will take you far beyond what you used to think of as extraordinary. There is always a bright side, The Universe.

People who give the best are those who give of themselves – your time, talents, words, knowledge.

Love and courage go together. It takes a big heart to believe in love when negative feelings and hatred is filled around. Courage reflects persistence, bravery, and honesty. And in love when you trust people, be honest with yourself and shower unconditional love, its takes a lot of courage to be a heart filled with love.

The heart has long been a metaphor used to depict inner strength. And I’m not sure if there’s anything that requires more courage and inner strength these days than to love.

To open your heart to someone, knowing that it might get broken.

To share your deepest needs and desires, not knowing if they will be met.

To love, even when that act of love may not be reciprocated, at least not in the same way it was given.

It feels like a leap of faith to love someone deeply. There are no guarantees. And yes, sometimes love hurts. That’s why love takes courage.

I’d love to hear from you…

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