Top 10 Ways to Love Fearlessly

Let's face it: love is messy. With its magnified highs and lows, love is unpredictable and never what we expect--so much so that we might be tempted to cower in fear. But if we approach love with the courage of a warrior, we can have relationships of heroic proportions. Here are 10 ways:

1. Be yourself. If we want to be loved for who we truly are, why put on an act?
   
   
2. Don't believe your stories. Our interpretation of events and feelings is, in fact, just one possibility for what is actually true. Focus on what IS to get closer to the truth.
   
   
3. Stay open. Fear's favorite pastime is to shut us down. But when we are vulnerable, true connection to others is possible.
   
   
4. Speak up. We become silent when instead we desperately want to connect.
   
   
5. Stop looking for perfection. More than likely, what we call "high standards" is a mask for our own feelings of inadequacy.
   
   
6. Embrace the messiness. It gives us the gift of growth.
   
   
7. Get mad. Learn the difference, though, between expressing anger responsibly and dumping it.
   
   
8. Love with no thought of what you'll get in return. This is fearless love in action.
   
   
9. Take responsibility. Be accountable for your own emotions, thoughts and actions.
   
   
10. Love yourself. Only then can you love others and be loved.

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