When Love is All You Have...Here’s How to Hold On To It

February is often designated as ‘the month of love.’ And because Valentine’s Day is in February, it is many times considered the day for couples to express their love for, to, and with each other. However, because you are love and you are filled with love, love transcends intimacy.  The love you possess extends beyond the love with your significant other. As a matter of fact, it would be a shame if you were restricted to sharing or receiving love on one day, one month, or with one person in your life. You would become bankrupt at love.

The reality is, no matter what your love situation is on Valentine’s Day or any day of the year; and no matter whom you love or are in love with; love should never be a one-way experience.  Love can and should be a reciprocated process, which encompasses compromises, but also includes boundaries. Loving with boundaries will ensure that you and the love you share are appreciated and not taken for granted; that you are a priority and not a convenience for the one you love; and that you don’t have to forsake your values or yourself in order to have true love.

And now these three remain; faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love (I Corinthians 13:13). If God is love, you are love! The very essence of who you are, including your life and your being, is love. As long as you live, you have the capacity to not only exude love, but to become a beacon of and for love, recognizing that “Love is All You Have. ”  You might have riches in abundance, as well as material assets; however, until you have love, you have absolutely nothing!

No matter what transpires in your life; when all else fails, love transcends everything. Love will stand through adversities, tragedies, disappointments, and losses; it will stand the test of time. In the scheme of things, love is all you need! And if love is all you have and all you need, you most certainly have everything!! 

This love must be authentic; not just words being said for the sake of saying them, but with positive meaning and positive intentions. There has to be true meaning behind the words. When it comes to love, it’s a matter of ‘show and tell’; saying what you mean and meaning what you say. This love is genuine agape love, which is akin to a magnet; the more you share it and show it, the more you will attract even greater love…it grows.  Love should always be an asset and not a liability.

Love is the one thing that you and everyone else want, desire, and look for—unconditionally. Therefore, you can express love for, to, and with others, even if you are not a couple. Your expressions of love can be shown not only during the month of February or on Valentine’s Day, but three hundred and sixty-five days of the year! When it comes to love, the designation of one day, one month, or with one person (in a marriage or committed relationship, your love of intimacy should be with one person), just won’t work! Love is essential and it is universal! It is expressed on a continuum and not at a particular point in time!

Don’t get it twisted; you can still love your mate, your children, your mother, your father, your sister, your brother, and others; they will all be shown love in a different manner. However, no matter whom your relationship is with, the greatest and most powerful of what you will share with each of these people is love. And regardless of what happens with and to your relationships over time, ‘love is all you have, ’ and it is the basis of all you need!

Love does not mean saying you are sorry on a daily basis, in order for you to cover up the constant hurt and pain that you have caused other people close to you. Love doesn’t mean showing disrespect, hurling expletives, having affairs, being selfish, lacking compassion, taking and not giving, misusing instead od using, abusing in any manner; and love is not all about sex!  In reality, you have sex with anybody, but you make love with somebody—special!  As Maya Angelou once stated, “love liberates; it doesn’t bind.” Your love should be one of freedom and freeing, not one fraught with inhibitions and controls. True love allows you to release and let go. And if it is meant for you, it will return at the right and appointed time.

Love resides within you. When you recognize the love within, you can begin to share it outside of yourself and attract the love that you desire and deserve. Could it be that you have not found the love you desire and have been looking for, all because you don’t know how to use the love you have? If ‘love is all you have,’ it is imperative that you learn to use it and not lose it. Let go of your past, the hurt, and the pain. Let go of what did or didn’t happen for you or to you. Get rid of the mess and expect the best. Let go of the losses and prepare yourself for the gains, when you recognize that, “love is all you have.”

The keys to ensuring that you are able to hold on to the love you have are, deciding how you will accept the love that is within you; how you will utilize the love within you; and how you will share the power of your love with others. If you have love and are willing to share it unselfishly, the rest will come! Therefore, you must exhibit love in all and everything that you do; not just with your mate or in intimate relationships, but for and with people in general!

It is time for you to not only discover and understand the riches associated with possessing love, but for you to also secure additional tools to help you to gain and maintain the peace associated with having love on a daily basis. It is also time for you to learn to utilize the power of your love effortlessly and positively! Instead of talking about the love you have, it is time for you to show it…just do it!!

Therefore, you must exhibit love in all that you do; not just for your mate in intimate relationships, but for people in general; including with family and in other plutonic relationships. When you have been scorned, when your friends turn their backs on you, when the bottom seems to fall out of your life, when there seems to be no hope or direction, when life seems to keep dealing you a ‘bad hand,’ and when you don’t seem to see a light at the end of the tunnel, here is when you turn inward to the love that’s within you…remembering, if you have no one or nothing, you still have love. And as a result of having love, you have everything and everyone you need!  Look around you; you have a crowd!! You might have material riches in abundance, as well as physical assets; however, until you recognize the love within you, you have absolutely nothing!  Hold on to your love!!!