Love is What Matters Most

"If two people really loved each other, they couldn't be separated no matter what happened."--Christopher Tracy, "Under the Cherry Moon"

Money, accomplishments and championships are great but I have learned that without love none of those things matter very much. Love comes in many forms but without love there is no meaning. Last year, I offered this definition of love:  

Love is an easy word to throw around and many people use it far too casually. 

True love is innocent, pure and deep.

True love is based not on how much you can get but how much you can give.

I was searching for something that I thought I had glimpsed and that I hoped existed but that I had not yet experienced--but Julie Sheil has helped me to understand and enjoy love at a level that I could not previously imagine. I have always been driven, self-centered and very narrowly focused on specific, individual goals--but I have learned that life can only be fully appreciated by opening one's heart and mind to a wider perspective that includes another person's dreams, hopes and goals.

I once thought that opening my heart would make me weak, soft and vulnerable, that it would prevent me from reaching my goals--but now I see that the opposite is true: opening my heart frees my mind from irrelevant concerns and provides a serenity that my soul lacked.

The power of love cannot be adequately described by mere words--it is mystical, mysterious, powerful and wonderful, though it can also be overwhelming and frightening. Here is my humble attempt to express the joy and peace that I feel, rendered in the form of an alphabetical acrostic about the most special and most beautiful woman who I have ever met:

Just the prettiest smile in the world, a smile that can light up a room and make my heart sing with joy.

Unique ability to soothe my soul and focus my energies in positive directions.

Lovely, piercing eyes--windows to a fiery, yet caring soul.

Incredible lust for life--you love to learn new things, try new experiences, find out what the world has to offer.

Enormous patience when dealing with the gaps in my knowledge about certain day to day matters.