Love: A gift, not a prize

Can you find true Love by trying harder?

Photo by Jamez Picard on Unsplash

The darkest illusion of life is that earned love is a prize to be won.

We witness it daily — hearts pouring themselves into bottomless vessels, believing persistence will eventually fill them. But true love has never been a matter of effort or worth. It exists, like gravity, the sun, or starlight, operating on its mysterious frequency.

Think of all those moments you have tried to earn love through actions. The text message you sent. the meal you cooked, the midnight comfort offered. All these gestures become a silent plea: “See me. Choose me. Love me back.” Love does not work that way because isn’t mathematics.

Love isn’t like a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be experienced.

When it’s real (Love) feels like breathing — natural, growing, effortless, and sustaining. It doesn’t leave you gasping for air, desperately trying to prove your right to exist in someone’s world. It doesn’t demand to change your nature by becoming smaller, quieter, or different. Neither ask you to earn your place through endless demonstrations of devotion.

A painful truth about love is this: someone’s capacity to love you has nothing to do with your capacity to love them.