Exploring Happiness #56- About Love Poem by June Stepansky

The well-kept secret about love
is that it’s not about getting,
it’s about giving.
We cannot will others to love us,
whether they be our parents,
our partners, our friends
or our children.

But the giving of love to
whatever and whomever we choose,
is an option that is endlessly available,
providing us with a constant flow
of pleasure and of
possibilities.



When we stop trying to win the love of others and begin giving the warmth and love inside of us freely in any direction we choose, we begin to see some interesting changes occur.
First, it gives us the freedom of more choices in our lives and leaves the decisions of love and caring to our own discretion rather than waiting for the whims of others.
It also opens up our lives to new possibilities that we have perhaps not previously considered.
The very act of giving love carries within it the seeds of unexpected benefits in the possibility of loving reciprocal reactions from others.

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The human contribution is the essential ingredient.
It is only in giving of oneself to others that we truly live.
Ethel Percy Andrus

The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able
to give a large part of oneself to others.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin