What Unconditionally Loving Someone Really Looks Like

Love is such a quirky thing. It makes you do things you never thought you’d do and say things you never thought you’d say. Nevertheless, once you feel it there’s no going back. It’s a high, people wait their whole lives to find it. It’s the most sought after commodity people don’t realize they’re looking for. But what does loving someone unconditionally really mean?

Feeling like you love someone and choosing to love someone are two very different things. People think once you’re “in love”, everything becomes perfect. You’ve found your person and you’re world is right. But with that comes its own unique set of challenges that few people are actually prepared for. After the butterflies end, what’s next?

To love someone unconditionally requires enormous sacrifice. It’s no longer about you, but about becoming one with whom you love, merging your interests, your friends and family, your lives. You are giving a part of yourself away and that’s scary and hard and intimidating, even with the right person. Loving isn’t always easy and it’s not always fun and games, but the reward of being loved unconditionally back is twofold.

Loving someone is one of the most rewarding experiences any one person can have. It will change you, on a cellular level. Something deep in your core will shift. And if you’re in it for the long haul, sooner or later you will have to sacrifice for the one you love. Loving someone is a dance, sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow, but in the end it’s not about those things, but how the whole dance comes together.

Things will get hard and uncomfortable. Words will be said and tears will fall. But loving someone unconditionally means you keep going, you keep choosing to love this person despite the fights and the arguments and the struggles. And when the one you love is not physically with you, it adds a whole new level to sacrifice. To love someone from afar is the purest love. You don’t get goodnight kisses or dinner dates. You wait for a goodnight text and pray that time would speed up. It is the most agonizing and rewarding experience.

But the distance you may have to suffer through won’t tear you apart because in the end you know all your time apart is building towards a lifetime spent together. There will be days without phone calls and days you barely talk at all, but you know the love is still there. Nights spent alone will seem to drag on forever, but that makes your time spent together even sweeter. Loving is sacrifice, but you do it because you know a life spent with them, even when times get hard, is infinitely better than spending a lifetime without them.

No one can question your feelings when you love someone unconditionally. It will shine through any situation and break apart any trouble that may come. It is the deepest, most sincere form of love and often the hardest to give away. But when it’s real, you won’t question giving your heart away. It will be the easiest choice you’ll ever make.

No love is perfect, we are all human, but when you find someone worth loving who will love you back, jump and don’t look back. And when the hard times come, and they will, don’t give in. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and realize how blessed you are.

Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. Life isn’t about being the toughest or the smartest, it’s about being open and willing to accept the changes that will come. That’s where the magic is. The most any of us can do is keep our faith and love unconditionally. The rest is futile. Make sure you smile everyday and know that even when things get tough, they won’t last forever. Love yourself, love those around you, the rest will fall into place.