You’ll Never Really Understand Love If You Don’t Accept These 6 Truths

Love is unconditional. 

Love is and will always be unconditional. Too often we find ourselves in relationships based on conditional love—friendships, romantic partners, and even family members. As long as you do what someone says, as long as you do what people want, someone will “love” you. But when you don’t match what that person wants you to be, they take away their “love” for you. But here’s the thing: It never was love in the first place. Love is not conditional. If someone truly loves you, they love you for who you are inside. Someone doesn’t stop loving you because you did something they didn’t like. Someone doesn’t stop loving you because they’re upset with you or you’re upset with them. Someone doesn’t love everything they do—they have different opinions than you do, different lifestyles, and different perspectives that may lead to arguments—but they love you as a whole person. They love your spirit, your essence, and that’s what drew them into you in the first place. Love is and always will be unconditional.

Love is selfless.

Love doesn’t think it owns you, because it knows it doesn’t. It is not possessive. It doesn’t get mad when you spend time with other people or yourself. It doesn’t demand your attention all the time. It doesn’t feel like you owe it simply because it gives you love. It understands that you’re a person and don’t belong to anyone. Instead, love celebrates all your little and big wins in life. Love smiles in your face in the morning because it cares about you as your whole self. Love hypes you up when you’re feeling down, reminding you of all the greatness that you possess inside of you and how many people feel the same way about you. Love does not seek to possess you but to embrace you for who you are.

Love is liberating.

Love wants you to be who you are. It doesn’t tell you who you should or shouldn’t be. Love doesn’t tell you to behave a certain way because it’s the “right” way or berate you for doing things the “wrong” way. Love simply exists, and that’s all it ever wants you to be, too. Love wants you to work on growing every day and appreciating things about yourself and life. Love wants you to explore and experiment with things that interest you, spending time with people who care about you, and committing your time to causes that you’re passionate about. Love is free, and it wants you to be free, too.

Love is forgiving. 

Love is always forgiving. It doesn’t hold grudges. Love looks at you as a whole person and always takes that into account. It doesn’t pick one part of you, one chapter in your life that you have, and judge you based on so little information. Love knows who you truly are inside. It knows that you make mistakes, that you hurt people and yourself, that you struggle in life. Love knows and acknowledges that as a simple human fact, and it is not there to judge; instead, it’s there to offer you a hug, support, and a sense of solace. Love always wants to connect you back to your roots; it is always within your grasp.

Love is infinite.

Love is everywhere. It is not a limited supply. It isn’t a small container that can “run low” or “run out.” There is a never-ending amount of love to spread around to everyone. Love knows that it is the very essence of life and disperses itself accordingly. Love is available to all: to you, your significant other, your family, your friends, even strangers you meet every day and treat with the same kindness that you show to loved ones. Love is an infinite amount of supply and therefore can never be scarce; it is everywhere and always will be everywhere, and you can always reach out to it.

Love is life.

Above all else, love is the essence of life. It’s in ourselves, in others, and all around us. Deep down, we all possess love and have the ability to offer its infinite supply to every person we touch around the world. Love is the core part of humanity. It is what drives us to get up in the morning. It is what motivates us in our everyday actions. It is what decides how we live our lives. Love exists in all cultures, transcends species, and is everywhere in the universe. Love is who we are, and that is all we need to know to start living the life truest to ourselves.