From the time that we're old enough to just barely comprehend what love is, our goal in life becomes to one day, find our soulmate and pray that he/she will love us. We crave the feeling of being loved. The feeling we feel when somebody tells us they love us for all that we are and all that we want to be; for all of our values, our dreams, our hopes, and our family.

We yearn for someone who is going to love our heart, who is going to cherish us, respect us, and love us the way that we need to be loved. Because being loved is one of the best feelings in the world.

We equate love with acceptance, and for many people, being accepted is right next to being loved on our #relationshipgoalslist. When one potential beloved fails to love us the way we hoped they would, we experience rejection; we experience a lack of acceptance that crushes our hopes of ever finding someone to share love with. We assume that just because someone accepts us, we can finally breathe. We can finally feel comfortable in our own skin. We will have the comfort of knowing that someone is there for us. When we’re loved, life gets just a little bit easier.

What we do not always realize is that the desire to love another is just as great as, or even greater than, being loved. Considering the fact that being loved is one of the best feelings in the world: what if we decide to put ourselves on the other side of the story? What if, instead of focusing on finding someone who will love us, we dream of having the ability to love someone with all of the love that we can give them, with all of the love that that person deserves?

We can choose to give more and take less. It is not a matter of being selfless versus being selfish, but rather about whether we're willing to give as much as we expect another to give to us.

We could choose to embrace those we already love, each and everyday. Maybe we will hug our mothers a few seconds longer, maybe we will take those extra moments to let our grandparents know how much we appreciate them, and maybe we will make the decision to be there for a best friend, even when we are "just so busy" that day.

All in all, it is the little things that count. You know how they say that love finds you when you least expect it? Or when you stop looking? It is very true. If we stop focusing on finding our knight in shining armor who will sweep us off of our feet and instead focus on spreading the love and sunshine that is already within, to our already loved ones who deserve it the most, then we will roam this world with a clearer head. A clearer head that will help us notice when the right person comes along and open our hearts to accept the love we deserve.

If all of us desired to love another with the same capacity in which we desire to be loved, the world would be a more loving place.