Hereâs the principle I live by: love the people who choose you. Thatâs how you prove to yourself that you care about being chosen. I write all the time on this Substack that the point of life is love. And love is not a theoretical thing, itâs something that we live out. If someone says they love me and then they vanish, I donât think theyâre a bad person, but I know they donât love me because theyâre not acting like they love me, lol. Choose someone who values you and shows it.
We can live without anyone, Bear. Humans are very resilient. We lose parents and children and spouses and we keep on breathing. When someone says âI need you to live,â thatâs not flattering, thatâs fiction. I think what makes love special is the very act of choice: I donât love you because I need you, I love you because I see something in you that makes everything seem brighter. I prove my love by choosing you every day, over and over again. My love is in my repetition and my love is in my faith. You donât need to manipulate or coax someone into loving you. Games like that arenât worth playingâpeople play those games when they donât believe that thereâs a light in them that someone else will see. There is a light in you, Bear, and youâll thrive when you tend to it carefully.
Remember: we trap ourselves in the present when we refuse to let go of it. So let go. The future will find you.