Love and Live

 The world has taught us to keep score.

"I called first."
"They never replied."
"I gave more."
"They did not appreciate it."

Without realising it, we begin to measure every act of kindness against the possibility of a return. Love becomes an investment portfolio, and every relationship starts to look like a balance sheet.

Then, somewhere along the journey, I began to wonder if I had misunderstood love.

What if love was never meant to be a transaction?

What if it was simply meant to be an expression of who we are?

A smile offered because it was genuine.

Encouragement spoken because someone needed it.

A meal shared.

A ride given.

A prayer whispered for someone who may never know.

Not because these things guarantee closeness. Not because they secure loyalty. Not because they will be returned with interest.

Simply because love has found another opportunity to breathe.

There is a freedom that comes when we stop asking every act of kindness to justify itself.

Ironically, we become more generous.

More patient.

More present.

We stop trying to control outcomes and start paying attention to people.

This is not naïveté. Love should still have wisdom. Kindness should still have boundaries. Not every invitation should be accepted, and not every relationship should be pursued.

But when we choose to love, perhaps we can do so without quietly attaching an invoice.

That changes us.

The strange thing is that life also becomes lighter.

You enjoy conversations without trying to predict where they will lead.

You celebrate people without needing to possess them.

You can admire beauty without demanding permanence.

You become grateful for moments instead of anxious about futures.

Perhaps that is what I am learning.

Love.

Then live.

Let your kindness be sincere.

Let your generosity remain free.

Let your peace come from the person you are becoming, not from the response you receive.

Because some of the most beautiful things we will ever give this world will never come back to us.

They were never supposed to.

They were simply meant to pass through us.

Nugget

Love is at its freest when it stops negotiating. Live is at its richest when it stops waiting for love to be repaid.