46. If you think you have to act a certain way in order to be loved, you’re not actually being loved
You’re being loved for someone you’re pretending to be, and that’s not being loved.
46. If you think you have to act a certain way in order to be loved, you’re not actually being loved You’re being loved for someone you’re pretending to be, and that’s not being loved.
You do not have to do anything to be loved. You do not have to perform, or achieve, or earn a merit badge, or be witnessed doing good. It has taken me almost half a century to learn and believe this. It is my work to this day. For our messages to the contrary are deep.
Mark Nepo • The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have
To love is not the thing, to be loved is the real thing—and they love just in order to be loved. The basic thing is not to love, the basic thing is to be loved.