Love, or rather the lack of it constitutes the loneliness breeding in a person’s heart. It is a scary fact to note that we are largely shaped by others (remember the sum of five people we spend most of our time with) who hold our destiny in THEIR hands.
We are what we are today – a product of those who loved us or have refused to love us.
Love gives life to others. But what is most important is to remember is that in order to love someone else effectively, we must love ourselves first! You can’t give what you don’t have!
You may think you ‘love’ a beautiful girl or a handsome guy if you don’t love yourself (there is a song that goes: I am nobody until I met you or my life is meaningless until you came into the picture) but that is not love.
You may admire that person because he or she is good looking, you may worship that person because you think he or she is better, you may even sacrifice your life for him or her for your own selfish, self-gratifying ego, but you do not love.
Love is a verb. It is an action. The feeling of ‘love’ is actually a product of the verb or action. By loving yourself first, it forms the basis or foundation by which you love others without which it is merely a baseless act of self-deception that appears to be loving.
But how do we love ourselves if we have never been loved? In the next chapter we will explore this area.
(This is fifth part in a series of Articles about the topic dealing with loneliness)
