I went to my friend’s wedding this past weekend, and while I am not a religious person, some words spoken by the priest helped me open my eyes. The priest read out a passage,  Paul in I Corinthians 13:4-7 on the definition of love…

“Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Throughout my breakup, I admit as strong and confident as I pride myself to be, I have had many moments where insecurities overwhelmed me like a cloak of black touching my every thought. I questioned what was wrong with me, what I could have done differently, how I could have been more of this… less of that…I doubted myself and my self love. Perhaps I wasn’t athletic enough, perhaps I had some childhood complex, perhaps I wasn’t confident or strong enough…perhaps I wasn’t good enough. Those are all the questions that was part of my inner dialogue while trying to figure out what went wrong.

However, through the days, and that one moment in the church, I shook off the cloud of self doubt and started to understand. What I have realized, is that my flaws, my imperfections, my strengths, my weaknesses, my insecurities and vulnerabilities included are all a part of me. They don’t make me any worse nor any better, but they were ways and characteristics that were destined to play out in my life. True, real love, will not shun these ways, or see it as weak or not good enough. Love, is without condition. True love endures, through the best of times and even the worst of times.  It doesn’t appear one day and not the next – that, is often mistaken for love, but in truth it is lust, emotions, and chemical reactions that don’t know what other label to identify with. And with that, it comes just as easily as it goes.