Love... you know a lot of people say "you can't love someone until you love yourself", and I use to believe that it was true. Until I actually sat down and thought about it. When someone becomes pregnant they tend to love their unborn child more than they love themselves. Most pregnancies are not planned and most come about in an unfavorable time in someone's life. This little blessing that they are carrying changes their life for the better. Some feel like they finally have a reason to live and some use it as a wake-up call to get their shit together and be the greatest mom that they can be, to their child. You finally have a reason to pursue your goals and become something better than what you wanted because you have a little one growing inside of you, who is going to look up to you!
Love is a word that is abused and used! Honestly, you can love someone and not know it until you reflect on everything the both of y'all have been through. It is true when they say "you never know what you have until you lost it". I have been there once before in life, but I also realized that we objectify the word love and we do not know what it is. In today's age and time everyone wants to be in love and is looking for love. I can admit it, that was me two years ago but I found myself doing things that were harming me more than helping me. So I sat there and reflected on my life and realized that this is not love, this is lust. I cannot keep hurting myself to please others when I do not get anything in return. That's when I found out that love is an emotion, a feeling, and an adjective because you can find that one person who brings butterflies to your stomach every time you think about them or someone says their name BUT if that person isn't giving you the same amount back then you are going to end up hurting yourself.
Fortunately, it is taught to me to help others regardless of what your situation is. I have yet to let someone down intentionally! I check on everyone who I consider my friend or family. I tell them all the same thing "I do not have much but if you need it then let me know because I'll give you what I can." Some say that is me being too nice or too kind and others say thank you I appreciate it. I do not expect them to do anything in return until they feel like it is necessary or they want to bless me with something.
I have been asked throughout my whole life: what is love to you? What do you know about love? You sure you "in love"? My definition of love is allowing someone to see you with no makeup on in your purest form by still letting them know that you are here for them regardless of what you are going through. It takes a lot of hurt and pain to understand why we love the way we do but if we are going to love them then we need to make sure that we aren't hurting ourselves during the process. Do not allow someone to tell you differently on how to love or that you cannot love someone more than you love yourself because nobody knows if that person that you love more than you love yourself has helped you through a tough time or has given you words of wisdom that gets you through the day or whatever the case may be!
So, I challenge you to go out and tell whoever you love that you love them and you are glad they helped you through XYZ. Love is tricky but only you know what it is to you and if you feel like you are hurting yourself in the process then it isn't love.
