Love defined

i have never been in love.
or at least, i used to think so.
i thought that being in love meant that feeling that made you want to get up every morning and sing at the top of your lungs.
or the proverbial butterflies flitting like mad at the pit of your stomach.
or that tingly sensation that spread a shower of warmth all the way down to your toes.
like every other person on the planet,
i was locked in that mindset and thought i could only be in love with a "special someone" who made me feel all this and more.
but, as i mature, i realized there was more to that "feeling" than what everybody thought.
being in love can be flexible.
it doesn't have to be exclusively romantic.
love can come in all forms, even those we cant begin to understand.
it's not just about happily-ever-afters and fireworks.
the pain, the rejection, despair and disappointments are very much a part of it.
they actually make being in love so real and special.
some of us might have spent lifetimes tilting at windmills and chasing rainbows, searching for the greatest romance ever known to people, when it seemingly little things around us that evoke that special feeling.
maybe there wont be butterflies, or tingles or that kilig feeling all the time, but you know from the soul, flesh and core of your being that it is something inexplicably wonderfull and extraordinary.
and you feel incredibly glad that you are alive.
many years of my life have passed, but it is only now that i have the courage to admit to myself how truly "in love" i am and always have been.
i am in love with my family, though i may not be expressive at times.
i am in love with my friends old, new, lost or forgotten.
i am in love with my special someone out there
whether he is a part of my past or the once-in-a-lifetime yet to come.
i am in love with the faces i see everyday, with the smiles that prove that life is worth living.
i am in love with sadness, grief, loneliness, anger - all those emotions that make life's joys even more precious.
i am in love with HIM who has graced me with the gift of love and loving, and who shares this blessing with all that exists this world.
and i am in love with myself, with my own unique ability to express that love in infinite ways despite my imperfections and limitations.
i am in love with love, with life, with living.
this is my greatest testimonial to being in love.
no matter how many times i may deny or ignore it, being in love will always be the grandest experience that life can give to me and everyone else.
at the risk of inciting Philosophy teachers to war, i believe Descartes was wrong.
i am not because i think.
i am because i love.
and i can be even more, because i am loved in return.