by Jason Stotts
It’s surprising how much being in love with a worthy lover can change you.
I find it’s primarily the little things that have changed for me. For example, the other morning I was moved watching a beautiful sunrise. In fact, I’ve recently begun to notice how prevalent beauty is in the world. Everything now seems more meaningful than before, or at least I appreciate it more.
I think it stems from love’s reaffirmation of the benevolent universe principle. The principle is most easily stated in its negative form: the universe is not out to get you, evil only exists as the result of evil people. Positively, it reads: the world is a beautiful place where you can succeed if you but try.
All too often, though, people begin to think that the world is a hostile place, that people are “out to get them”, that they are unable to achieve any values. The problem here is bifold, but both rest with the person himself. The first problem is that people don’t exert themselves and want to be handed things instead. When this preposterous course of action fails, as it must, they lament this and wail that the universe is unfair. The second problem is that people fail to employ their reason to understand the world around them and consequently find the world inexplicable. Yet it is only their own failure that has made the world inexplicable; in actuality the world is a very reasonable place.
Love, true love, reaffirms the benevolent universe principle and shows us that we can have everything we want, if we only work for it. True love makes life better in innumerable ways and lets us experience the beauty of life directly through our lover. Those of us who have found true love should take the time to reflect on the subtle ways in which it has enhanced our lives and through this further appreciate our lovers.