How I Look at Love

Ok, so let’s get real personal here because love is about as personal as it can get.
I had an interesting situation happen in the family unit this past week where some feelings got hurt or bent out of shape.
The reason for the hurt or bent out of shape feelings is really not important, I think, and not nearly as important as understanding how family members should feel about each other, in good times and bad.
Love is all encompassing to me; it is the very reason that I get out of bed everyday. It is the reason that I have a family and try to be involved to whatever degree that I can in their lives and it is also the base line of how I try to live my life.
I find love to be all inclusive in my life and I do not see it as any kind of a bargaining chip on how I do things.
If I am involved in a discussion on any topic I will do my best to make my point(s) but I will never use love as the reward for winning or love as the chip you lose if you prevail. Love is never on the table as far as I am concerned.
Now, that doesn’t mean I won’t be mad or disappointed or any of the other well known emotions but I will never stop loving any member of my family based on what they think or believe, that just doesn’t make sense.
Now, could there be an instance where I might withhold my love from someone? Yes, but that would only be after a long protracted period of time where they have basically shown me that I have no reasonable value in their life. It wouldn’t be any fly-by-night issue of life and I am sure that the other person would know long before how I was feeling.
Love can come in different degrees but the base feeling is the same…that we care about the other person, we want them to be happy and fulfilled and we want them to be a part of our life.
It really is that simple so as we continue to grow and mature as a family; take care of each other and always remember that love is not an option it is always a given.