Love is not for you

I just read the blog post by Seth Adam Smith “Marriage isn’t for you” and was very touched by what he said.  It is a lovely story of a son who is fearful of getting married and gets some loving and kind advice from his father who tells him “You don’t marry to make yourself happy, you marry to make someone else happy”.  What a beautiful thought.

Now, I must admit to being a 57 year old self-proclaimed women’s rights advocate with serious existentialist underpinnings.  Always fiercely independent, I believed it was up to me to find and create my own happiness in this world but in the past few years something new is immerging something deep and profound.

Perhaps it is a matter of maturity, age, experience or all of the above but I see that it’s not the love you receive but the love you give that is so important in life.  When I look at my own children, grandchildren, friends and even strangers I realize that the best and most precious gift I can give is to just love them.  Just as they are, no strings attached, no expectations, just pure love and acceptance.  To want what they want not for myself but for them.  So, I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Smith’s lovely article – love is not for me!