Love Without Possessing

I marvel at the insights that can come when we feel most tired, and yet make ourselves go out for a walk. Insights and creativity can sometimes creep up on us most unexpectedly, and make us turn in another direction in our lives...

I try to beat the rain, and though exhausted, will myself into taking a walk before the next round arrives...

I try to imagine, what it would be like, to live a life that went totally according to plan. MY plan, that is! A life where only the people I wanted populated my world - one in which I related to those I have most desired in the way I wanted - a place where everything would be easy and I would be happy all the time - a life where I truly lived happily ever after...

(You know, that kind of place where dreary fairy tales end, but not without first opening a window into a more perfect world, only conceived and played out in restless ruminations? Yeah, that place!)

And almost immediately, coming out of nowhere - the first insight arrives dispelling my imaginations and thwarting any possibility of their realization - quickly dissolving and evaporating the imaginary scenarios playing out, like a movie in my mind...

"But there would be no life lessons to learn!"

Of course, there would be no life lessons. That is why things are as they are - because we are given the opportunity to learn in every relationship and every encounter. And if we don't learn what we must, it arrives back on our doorstep in some newly reconstituted fashion, and will continue to do so, until we learn what we must. It's all about the journey really, and the choices we make. The destination? Not so much...

I continue walking, acknowledging that there is a life lesson in every experience - the good ones, the easy ones - and the challenging ones as well...

And then the second insight arrives closely behind, almost intrusively...

"And the greatest lesson is to learn to love - 

but to love without possessing..."

I've always thought that one of the great lessons of my life is to learn how to let go. And I still think this. But I as walk through a few breezy patches of hidden coolness tucked under the canopy of trees, gingerly trying to evade the more humid swaths along the sunny portions of my path, I come to more clearly see that it is all really about loving without holding on - loving everything without possessing - those we feel most attached to or drawn to in our lives - and those we don't feel any inclination towards, whatsoever. We must love all who are destined to cross our path equally, because we are all ultimately, the same reflection of Divine Love. Which is to say, simply - we are all one...

And so I revisit another reflection and life lesson - and insight:

"We are all one."

Yes. We are one. We are here for life lessons. Each one of us has our own set, even though many of our individual lessons are similar:

We are here for lessons. We are here to realize we are all one. We are here to love and realize that it is all there is. And we must love without possessing...

As my steps draw me closer to my home, the feeling in my gut tells me that my insights have found their intended target.

I walk, and I listen, and I ask:

"Let me see what I must see.

Grant me clarity.

Show me the next step.

May the fruits of my labor flourish.

Let me remember my life lessons.

Let me learn them.

And let me learn to love more deeply,

without possessing!"