Did You Love Enough?

"Did you love enough?"

This question has been haunting me for nearly a month - ever since a friend brought it up as she reflected on her life and situation.

I went home that afternoon, daring to ask myself the same thing:

"Did I love enough?"

Did I love enough in that situation in the past? Am I loving enough in this situation now?

And inevitably that morphed into:

"Have I loved myself enough?"

No matter the question or its variation - the answer is always the same:

NO.

We can never love enough - whether it is someone else - or ourselves. Love by its very nature is expansive. There is always more room to grow.

In loving others however, the key is to love without attachment, without holding on - without being needy. And in loving ourselves - we may simply just need to set boundaries and allow ourselves the right to practice self-care.

We can never love enough - just as we can never meditate deeply enough. We never arrive. There is always another layer - another depth to plumb - there is always more. There is always the possibility for expanding our capacity for love.

The opportunity to shift things is never absent to us - we have the ability to go to the next level, if we are always seeking the highest, even in the most complicated of situations. I believe, that somehow - Love is always the answer and there is always more of it that lies waiting at our core, joyfully expecting to be discovered.

There is so much more that I had intended to share here today, but I know it is not necessary. The question speaks for itself. As does the answer.

As I begin this new year, I do so with this mantra, and with this insatiable query - boring its way into the core of my essence, leading to new realms of self-discovery:

"Did I love enough?"

Even when I felt most hurt by the actions - or the inactions of others?

"Did I love myself enough?"

In those moments when I felt most spent and could not even breathe? Did I take the time to nourish myself even when there were so many demands caving in all around me?

The answer is always NO.

But, every day we can begin again. We can love a little more. We can bring just a tad more compassion to every situation. And we can take a moment or two to breathe and practice self care.

"I can never, EVER Love enough!"

And somehow, that brings me incredible comfort!