Love.   Let's face it; we all want it.   If you've ever tasted the real thing, you know what a blessing the experience can be. I've never had the good fortune of falling in love. Probably because I was scared or I'm just being picky. But one thing I know is that there is nothing as acute and life affirming as the feeling of validation that comes with being in LOVE - it makes us feel alive! But maybe the most revealing part of being in love is the myriad of windows that it opens into one's soul. We tend to reinvent ourselves when we're in love, often creating a brand new identity that we are deemed "worthy" of another's affections. How we behave at the beginning of a relationship is unavoidably different from how we behave once familiarity has set in. Once the novelty wears off, our true self rises up again, rightly demanding to be counted, seen and understood.   Most of us are raised with the idea that we'll grow up, meet the partner of our dreams, get married and then "LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER". Our formative years are spent swinging between managing relationships within our family and seeking attention of the romantic kind. Since our parents thought talking to us about love and sex would drive us straight to the bed of some sexual corruptor who would turn us into modern day Jezebels, we tend to learn about love from books, magazines, television and of course, from our peers - a very scary thought considering how little we all knew then. So most of what we think we know about love bears little resemblance to the real deal. Case in point: My Crush gave a book for Valentine’s Day several years ago. At that time, I was sorely disappointed, although I did not show it. What I was truly hoping for was a big bouquet of flowers, or chocolates in a heart-shaped box or even a teddy bear. For my part I gave him a pair of socks for his basketball game. Well, I don't know what happened to the socks, but I still have the book- THE METHODIST HYMN BOOK. What I initially perceived to be a thoughtless present has outlived any other gift I've received in my life, thus throwing my ideology of romance completely out of the window (where they deserve to languish forever) When our romantic expressions fail, we're left feeling enchanted, bothered and confused. That's why the philosophy "LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE" is such a powerful statement. Our first responsibility is first and foremost to ourselves, and that is the GREATEST LOVE OF ALL. So let it begin and let it begin with you.