THE PRICE OF LOVE

 

True love costs everything and is usually more than any of us have to give. Your pride is bankrupt from the outset, and your skin thickens to ward off the danger of the awesome might of words that are haphazardly thrown your way by the one you love. And the one you love can always hurt you the most with those “dangerously powerful creatures” called words! If you are truly in love, his or her name is always on your lips like the kind of lipstick that does not wear off or smear, ever! When you hear his or her name, even in casual conversation from across a crowded room, your ears become highly sensitive satellite listening devices that hone in on every spoken word that follows that name. “What did they say about my Boo?”

To touch or be touched by the one you love is electric and endearing; you never want it to end. A gentle supportive touch becomes a light massage; then a tender caress, until those same lips that called you something you did not want to hear, find their way to your neck, behind your ear, upon your cheek then finally speak the language of love to your own lips. And suddenly you have paid the ultimate price of love, which is surrender. And surrender costs everything!

When you want to be upset at the love of your life, surrender takes hold of you, controlling your emotions and the physical responses that accompany them. You remember how beautiful and awkward your first kiss was, and how it made you feel. And of course, you surrender. You remember that this is not your adversary. You are not at war. You are in love, and love costs everything! Your ego is forfeited like a repossessed automobile. Your pride goes out of the window like used dishwater. Your heart beats for someone else, and no longer obeys your commands. You are not whipped; you are enveloped in the rapture of someone else’s heartbeat, and you have volunteered for this lifetime service. You were not drafted! You are not a conscientious objector. You are now enlisted in the army of love. Thank you for your service!