Last week I found a book that I first read in high school (which I still can’t believe was almost twenty years ago!) titled, “A Return to Love” by Marianne Williamson. It had such a profound effect on me at that time that I chose to write an English class essay on my new favorite book.

I recited a quote from Marianne stating, “Love is the essential existential fact. It’s our ultimate reality and our purpose on earth.” To this day, I whole-heartedly agree.

With a two-hour layover in Nashville, I found myself digging around for that essay to share with you. Like a typical teenager, I wrote about the ups and downs of my drama filled relationship and then stated, “No matter how much my head tells me I love him, my heart tells me I am only hanging onto him because I fear being alone. Which I now think is true. Couples are meant to help each other access the highest parts within themselves. And I don’t think our relationship is pulling through that point. I don’t think teenagers realize what relationships are all about. Relationships demand all of our skills at compassion, acceptance, release, forgiveness, and selflessness.”

“Wow. I knew the truth and ignored it,” I thought. And then felt a deep sense of love and compassion for my fifteen-year-old self. That four-year relationship ended with my boyfriend cheating on me. For years, I continued to attract relationships that ended in betrayal until I learned the truth: I chose to betray myself by listening to my head over my heart, choosing fear over love. How often do we know the truth and choose to look the other way?

No matter how old we are we often do not want to see the truth because it then requires us to make a choice. I have found that when we see through the eyes of love, we remember we are exactly where we are meant to be in each and every moment. Today, through choosing to keep my heart open regardless of what is going on in the outside world, my relationships now reflect deep love, truth and commitment.

I invite you to look through the eyes of love today. What is in your heart waiting to be seen, heard, felt, or acknowledged? What truth is waiting to be revealed?