“Love attracts only one thing and that thing is love.” Napoleon Hill 

This quote has me thinking… Valentine’s Day… A celebration of love.. but what kind? Romantic love? Everyone that knows me personally knows that I love this notion. But,… What kind of love are we putting out there that attracts the absolute dysfunction that relationships have become ALL around me? I’ve read that romance, in it’s purest form, seeks only one thing, and that is passion. Passion is willing to sacrifice everything else… every duty, obligation, relationship, and commitment in order to feed itself and it’s ego. Is it possible that romance is really about ourselves and the other person is just the best option we can find to fill that seat? 
But Love… Love is the one power that awakens the ego to the existence of something outside itself, outside of its plans, of its empire, of its security. Thus love by its very nature is the exact opposite of egocentricity. Love leads us toward the goodness, the value, and the needs of the people around us. In its very essence, love is appreciation and a recognition of another’s value. It moves us to honor each other rather that use one another, to ask how he might serve and support instead of only what we get out of it. 
So my thought is this: If human nature is to love… Why are we not attracting a lasting love… A love that doesn’t end in hated baby momma’s and daddy’s that are the third wheels in most modern relationships. We romance each other into bed to feed our own needs, end up with a chid whose parents are mismatched in a romantic relationship. I think we are approaching this from the opposite angle… we should save the romance to celebrate real love… not use it to try to talk someone into boosting our own self worth. 
Since I am not in a “romantic” relationship at this point, I will celebrate this Valentine’s day with a heart full of gratitude for the amazing family and friends I share TRUE love with on a daily basis. We all make mistakes, get mad, fall down and hurt but most importantly… we forgive and grow. Love between human beings is one of the absolute realities of human nature… if we’re not attracting the kind of love we want into our lives we ABSOLUTELY must start with adjusting the kind of love we are putting out into the world. 

Happy Birthday Dad(today) and Mom(17th). I love you both and appreciate the true love you give me.