Love and Walk Along

Love knows no taking, only to give, seeks no reward here or hereafter; Seeks no treasure at the end of life’s rainbow, so Love and walk along.

Love springs from within, not from the other; It comes out of our own nature; like the sun shines, and the flowers bloom, it cant be held back, so Love and walk along.

Share a smile and break bread, everyone is a fellow traveller here; hold on to no one, and do nothing, everyone we know will soon be gone, so Love and walk along.

There is no time to build your castle here, but rest a while, create a memory; You owe the world nothing and it owes you nothing, so Love and walk along.

We crawl our way out of this world, likewise, we sink back into its womb; none of those who cross our ways, we may ever know again, so Love and walk along.

Set no expectations, seek no dependents, string no attachments, carry no baggage; Travel light and you will go far, so Love and walk along.

Do what needs doing, and with righteousness shining through; Peace and sound sleep are rewards enough, so love and walk along.

Like a candle to another, pass your light along; burning out you move from one life to the next, yet your light will always remain, so love and walk along.

Here is a little background on why I have come to think of love this way. From my own experience, I have seen that with every act of love towards a person I used to build more expectations. The expectation could be that the person is grateful, shows loyalty, stays committed, talks or thinks well of me or simply sees me in a better light. However, very soon I realized this doesn’t work. With higher and higher expectations comes the risk of higher and higher disappointment. And when your expectations from the other person are met, then you set higher expectations from yourself to love. So the next time around when I try to make a more grand, more refined, more emotional expression of love, even to the extent that I may not afford it or that I may not be genuinely expressing it. So you see? Setting expectations in return for love is like a double-edged sword and it can cause damage either way. And so I am learning to separate love completely from expectations.

Sometimes, I go to lengths that I can’t afford to express love. This is unnecessary. It is better to give what you can and what you can afford to than make compromises in other areas.

Then the question arises why love at all. To which the answer is: because it is in our nature to want to love. It makes us happy and it is perfectly normal and human to do so.

To love is a privilege and so is to be loved. So, learn to be grateful for whatever love comes your way. Do not hanker for it, do not cling to it. Learn to let go, when it is time. It is more important to have a direction, a purpose for living. So keep moving forward.

So here are my five lessons:

1. When you choose to love, love unconditionally.

2. Express love in a way that gives joy to another person

3. Express love in a way you can afford to.

4. Love because you love to love.

5. Do not cling to love. Let go and keep moving.