“The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” – Victor Hugo
The best feeling in the world is to feel loved. It is having your mother’s arms wrap around you and believing nothing can harm you. It is resting in the crook of your husband’s arm, knowing you are precious. It is the unexpected brush of your child’s kiss on your cheek as you tuck her into bed, and realizing you are the world to her. This feeling of love can shine a ray of hope into the darkest day. It can right all wrongs and calm all fears. It is complete and utter bliss.
Unfortunately, it is a feeling that is easily forgotten.
Those moments of true and total peace and contentment are just that—moments. Your mother lets go and leaves the room, and now you’re alone again, waiting for the monster under your bed to come out and eat you. Your husband snaps at you when you ask him something, and you question the last twenty years of marriage. Your daughter slams the door in your face when all you want to do is know why she’s upset, and you wonder what you did to make her hate you so much.
It's hard to remember the warmth of the sun when you’re shivering in a cold, dark corner. But that is exactly when you need the memory the most. If the Devil’s work is to reap despair, then the seeds he sows are doubt—doubt that you are good, doubt that you are worthy. Doubt that you are loved.
Avoiding the doubt is impossible. Overcoming the doubt isn’t.
As human beings we have logic and reason. And though logic and reason may not seem like words a romance writer should use, they are most certainly the only way to get through times of doubt. There are no monsters under my bed because my mother just checked and said there was nothing there. My husband loves me just as much today as the day he married me, if not more. He’s just “hangry” and can’t find the tape measure he thought was in the drawer. My daughter doesn’t hate me. She’s just thirteen, and sometimes when you’re thirteen you get upset for no reason at all.
When the conviction that you are loved starts to fade, make yourself remember the moments that proved it to you. Talk yourself through those times of doubt. Know that you are loved, because it’s true. And take every opportunity to remind the people in your life how much they are loved, because without that they will forget the feeling, too.
- Kathryn Amurra