Love is being able to sit across from somebody in a restaurant.

Just the two of you, being there in each other’s presence.

Just being able to sit near them.

Being able to experience them and still be in the presence of your own thoughts.

Being so comfortable around somebody that their thoughts can just percolate inside your head.

You can have a private moment with yourself and yet still feel the love and the security of the person that’s next to you.

Love like that is powerful. Love like that is understood. And love like that is amazing. It’s peace. It’s what we all strive for because it’s the peace that we strive for in ourselves.

We tend to want this peace in our life—the peace of love. But we need to do it with ourselves first. We need to be 100% okay with all our thoughts—everything.

Unlike popular opinion, I don’t believe that there should be conflict—constant conflict in our relationships. Whenever you’re arguing with somebody in a relationship it means that they are not giving you the love that you need, the love that you deserve.

So you’re frustrated. The conversations usually come out very frustrated because arguments are based on frustration. Arguments happen when people are frustrated and annoyed. They’re not being loved the way they need to be loved.

Go deeper into all the arguments that you’ve ever had with any of your partners and you’ll see exactly what I’m defining here.

Love doesn’t need to be hard. Love needs to be peaceful. Love needs to be what I described above and many other beautiful things. But more importantly, love doesn’t need to be begged or negotiated.

We fight and we’re frustrated because the bottom line is we’re not getting the love that we need from our partner. Otherwise, why would you be frustrated? Why would you feel the need to argue?

Arguments are not based on conflict, but usually on opinion. Arguments are based on just one partner’s not receiving what they need or both partners not feeling loved or understood.

The power of love: it starts by loving yourself, staying in touch with it, and understanding who you are.

The more you love yourself, the greater love you’ll find.