My favorite quote right now is: "The light at the end of the tunnel is not an illusion. The tunnel is."

The same can be said for being addicted to love. Love is not the illusion. However, being addicted to another person  is. The belief that another person's "love"can give us self-esteem is flawed. Especially since the result would be having other-esteem, not our own. It is important to explore the definition of love addiction; the most recent of which entails "a condition characterized by severe, pervasive and excessive interest toward a romantic partner" ("Love Addiction….", 2014, Medscape.com).

"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is Optional"-Haruki Murakami Have you ever avoided feeling a painful emotion out of fear that you would die? You may initially say, "Well no, logically I haven't feared I would die because of something I felt."

"We are surrounded by images pretending to be love" ~ Deepak Chopra (The Path to Love, 1997, p.24). Every day, in large part due to social media, we are bombarded by advertisements and images of sex, romance, and what we have learned to believe is "love." We are told what to buy, how to change our appearances, and ways to improve our social status in order to attract the "perfect" mate.  However, what we have learned is not real love or even intimacy, nor is it romance or sex. It is an illusion that breeds both fear and scarcity and a constant search for the next "fix". 

Remember the movie Titanic?  Such a beautiful, state of the art ship that seemed perfect; able to contain an enormous amount of life! It was filled with so many wonderful stories, new and lasting partnerships, and an incredibly bright future.

The Titanic seemed unsinkable and indestructible; it was as if nothing could stop it.  From the outside it looked like it had everything it needed to succeed, right? Unfortunately, it wasn't the design of the glorious Titanic that brought it to it's demise. The real threat to that amazing ship was underneath the waterline; that which was unseen.

It has often been said that the two most important words in the English Language are "I AM." In religious and spiritual contexts, these two words have been directly attributed to one's higher power; with "I Am" literally being God.