Love is Made...Built. So is Trust.

For so many years I thought I would never get married, though I gave myself permission to just fall in love. Then I thought that all I had to do was fall in love, then all the wrinkles just fall away as I land into Mr. Right's arms. Boy, was I wrong. The names I was given from my youth-La La Land & Barbie-were still casting a thick shadow on how I perceived Love! Darn it!

I now know that the ingredients of which I need to use to make a lasting, loving relationship are time, commitment, patience, prayer, understanding, empathy, communication, kindness, honesty, sense of humor (my man has taught me how to find humor in just about everything!), compromise, smiles, gifts, affirming words, loyalty and love for myself! I notice that at any time one of the ingredients are missing, fear creeps in and the love doesn't feel full.

Love is made...built. So is trust. The 'falling' for me has, in the past, been simply infatuation mixed with hope and curiousity. I make the choices daily of utilizing as many of the ingredients I can at any given moment. For love is worth it!