Warriors Of Love

Warriors of Love

Written by my daughter

Age 10 years old

“Love is something you receive and give.  Love needs to be cared for.  Love can hurt, but if you push through all that tough pain, you’ll find all the good funny tingling wonderful sensations.


But, the "Warriors of Love" can do this best out of anyone.  You just don’t wake up a warrior, and it isn’t passed through generations.  Instead, Warriors of Love just simply love fully and care deeply.  They give to others even when it’s tough.


Maybe that warrior of love is you.  If you say “I’m a Warrior of Love” yet don’t act on it, then you probably aren’t.  This is because the warriors are the ones who don’t know that they themselves have this quality.  They have inner strength and they just love on others because it feels good.


The love warriors are the ones who make this world a better place.  There is no need to ask yourself if you are or are not this kind of person.  Because if you wish for it but don’t work for it, then maybe it’s not you.  Do not ask yourself about it. Don’t wish for love to happen.  Instead, just do it and act on it.”


After she wrote and read this to me, I said, “sweetheart, who is an example of a Warrior of Love in your life?”  With a thoughtful pause, she said, “Mommy, I think you are.  You love others with all your heart even when maybe they don’t love you back.  And you love with your whole heart and don’t ask for anything in return.”

The words of my daughter made me feel seen.  This is because I felt like she acknowledged my outward expression of love.  Maybe you don’t realize it, but someone else sees you as a Warrior of Love in their lives.  

My daughters words are a pertinent expression of how she feels, and how she relates to the love she witnesses in her life.  I am honored to be viewed as Warrior of Love.  And as we all slide our feet into our high heels, I hope you will be reminded of someone who made you feel seen and loved as well.  

Love Note: With all my heart, I genuinely request that due to the content written, please seek the guidance of professional help should you feel you need it.

The Life I Have Chosen To Create

 

Twenty years ago, my husband and I started dating.  In the midst of our celebration, I was asked, "If you could do it all over again, would you go back twenty years and still choose the same path?  Would you still spend twenty years with this same person?"  While I was certainly taken aback by the blunt questions, my response came without hesitation, "I would change nothing about my decision to date him.  The life we have created together is an honor.  And I am so glad that I get to live it with him by my side".  

If there is one thing that I know about myself, it is that I do not settle.  I have always been a strong-willed, independent person.  From a young age, I took the initiative to learn new things about life.  For any unanswered questions that lingered in my mind, I sought out the answers on my own.  I was never afraid to be myself even through adversity during my days at school.  And I grew up in a supportive family that gave me the freedom to discover life on my own terms. 

Have I been through a lot of unpleasant circumstances throughout my life?  Yes, of course.  But challenges never stopped me from pushing forward and unfolding the life I have chosen to create.  For me, difficulties provide experiences that cause me to persevere even more.  

I have had to push the "restart" button more than once in my life.  I have needed to pause, take a deep breath and reconvene with myself.  More times than I can remember, life has thrown me obstacles that have made me change the course of my desired outcomes.  And yet, I have refused to settle for a life I do not want.  

For me, I am grateful.  I have a husband who loves me fiercely, honestly and genuinely.  I have a daughter who exemplifies strength and resilience.  And I live a life that I was brave enough to create.  

So, to the person who questioned my decisions that I made twenty years ago, I say to you, "While I have had to hit the restart button more than once in my life, I will always be grateful for the one man who has stayed by my side through it all.  Also, I would never want to change the people in my life who have weaved their stories into my own.  And while situations in life may offer me sneakers, I will always choose to slide my feet into my high heels." 

Love Note: With all my heart, I genuinely request that due to the content written, please seek the guidance of professional help should you feel you need it.

An External Perspective

 

I am quick to be hard on myself and slow to offer myself grace.  I am quick to doubt myself and slow to be confident in my decisions.  I am quick to jump to negativity and slow to lean into positivity.  

Unfortunately, I do not readily allow myself to face the chaos that life tends to throw in my direction.  And I certainly do not offer myself any compassion when life does not go my way.  Rather than going with the flow of life, I try to control everything. 

It is easy for me to get wrapped up in what I am not doing and hard for me to see all the things that I am accomplishing.  Yet, when I recognize these unhealthy patterns, I am able to find hope to work through them.  And therefore, I am more gentle on myself as I relate to my own progress.  

When I look inward and see doubt, I am robbing myself of the hard work that I am actually doing to guide myself and my family through each day.  I am not allowing myself to see the beauty in my life, even through all the commotion.  Instead, I am leaning into all my failures and away from all the progress.  

However, in the midst of these thoughts, I am gently reminded that there just might be someone on the outside looking at my life from a very different perspective.  They see how hard I am working through my challenges, and they are admiring my perseverance.  While I am sometimes suffocating within the confines of my surroundings, someone else is quite possibly looking in on my life wondering how I am successfully doing it all.  

I wear high heels with a purpose since they are a gentle reminder that I am perfect, beautiful and special in my own ways.  When I slide my feet into my special shoes, I move forward with a perspective that a voice inside me feels doubtful but my high heels prove differently.  They show me that I exhibit confidence as I strive to stride gracefully through life.  

Love Note: With all my heart, I genuinely request that due to the content written, please seek the guidance of professional help should you feel you need it.