What makes you feel alive on the inside–it’s love. Being heard, understood, valued, and attended to are qualities of relationships we often overlook today. Not swept off your feet kind of love (which is nice), but the steady caring presence of otherness that allows your life a depth of meaning and fulfillment which don’t exist while going solo.

Everything in life, void of love, can become a drudge–responsibilities, work, extra effort, etc–but with love, everything comes alive. Like a dark house wrapped completely in unlit Christmas lights is your life without out love. Blind. Unable to see out, or in. Silent. Empty and cold. Invisible to everyone. Along comes love (however and whenever it arrives for you)–the electricity, giving light to the entire abode. Sight. Clear vision no matter the weather or time of day. Talkative. Filled and warm. Seen by those whom you care for. A beacon.

With love, all of life makes sense, but, without it, nothing makes sense. This is because we only really understand ourselves in relation to the depth that we understand others. We’re made to experience a level of community that, in our digital world, is slowly dissipating into the truth that we’re often together and alone. Disconnected from others, we can’t see ourselves and, so, we’re lost in the fog of finding a “why”. In this murk, any feeling of being alive on the inside becomes a strain that’s increasingly difficult to produce.

Our house is dark when others aren’t consistently present. And love is tough, it’s challenging, and it’s certianly not for the faint of heart. It’s tempting to let the house lay dormant, collect dust, and become unkept. Who would care anyways? Yes, many are not alive on the inside because they’ve said yes to love for the last time.

Burned by love leaves many feeling an overwhelming sense of nothing in their life. No reason to keep the lights on. Well, if I can’t get along with this person, then they’re might not be anyone for me in the world. Or, if I don’t fit with this specific group of people, then my destiny on earth is obviously to live the rest of my days tribless, isolated, and completely alone. Life, without love, is truly impossible.

This mentality (of you potentially being loveless) is hogwash.

Your people most certainly exist and they are somewhere waiting with open arms to accept you, love you, nurture you, and help you grow into all the person that you were meant to become, but never alone. Alone, an individual remains nothing. A singular mind floating within the rapidly expanding never-ending universe. Hopelessness is living daily with nothing real with which to be attached and this much is true, we know: everyone needs somebody. And that’s the most beautiful and challenging part of being human that no technology will ever take away, or replace.

NEVER SAY YES TO LOVE FOR THE LAST TIME

In your life, when you say yes to love over and over again you’ll immediately notice love’s kind effects within your mind. This positive mental energy always adds new electricity to your, sometimes, dark house. Just a spark to get things going. Love is out there, close by, and all around you. Love can both be felt and known. So never talk down or bad about love because this attitude is never helpful, small, and thwarts all remedies to your isolation before they can even begin.

With love electrifying your life, everything makes sense. Every room is lit. The why behind every action you must complete throughout your waking hours becomes replete with meaning, knowing that it’s not just for yourself that “tasks” are accomplished, but they’re being done for others. That’s right. Life and love are all about human relationships and the shared value therein.

That connection between two or more people that bond them to a common cause is what keeps the lights on, gets you jumping out of bed in the morning, and is an overall prevention to the abysmal escapism that overcomes most in their later years. That unifying cause, so long as constructive, is the fuel keeping you in love with life by keeping you in love with others. Getting somewhere valuable always takes love and, so, always takes others.

If you haven’t found your people yet, don’t lose hope on love. Keep an open mind, open eyes, and, most importantly, an open heart. People aren’t perfect, so neither is love, but, without love, the house is too dark to ever become a proper dwelling. It’s perfectly alright to say: I don’t accept a dark house. I don’t accept life without electricity. I won’t live without love for another day.

That’s a helpful declaration to make over and over again, because everyone deserves love, to find their tribe, and to have a spark to carry through the drudge of the day. This is why you must stop at nothing until your house is vibrantly electrified with life’s most important ingredient: love. It’s what makes you feel alive and, plus, who doesn’t like Christmas every day?