The Next Time Love Comes Knocking

I hope the next time Lovecomes knocking at your door,you’ll be courageous enoughto turn the keyand let it in.

And look,

I know you’re skeptical.

I know the last timeyou opened that door,someone came carrying flowersand left you picking thornsout of placesyou didn’t even know could bleed.

I know you’ve spent countless nightssweeping broken promisesoff the floor of your heart,trying to make a homeout of what was left of you.

So I understandwhy you changed the locks.

Why you boarded up the windows,built walls where there used to be doors,and convinced yourselfthat solitude was saferthan the possibilityof another goodbye.

I get it.

I really do.

But sweetheart,

you cannot spend the rest of your lifepunishing Lovefor the crimes of peoplewho never knew how to love you.

You cannot keep mistakingevery knock for a warning,every outstretched hand for a threat,every beautiful beginningfor the beginning of another ending.

And I’m not sayingyou should open your doorto everyone who knocks.

No.

Take your time.

Look through the peephole.Ask questions.Pay attention to the differencebetween those who speak of loveand those who know how to show it.

But please,

don’t let the ghosts of yesterdaykeep answering the doorfor the person you are today.

Because what if,just this once,the knock isn’t a warning?

What if Loveisn’t coming to reopen old wounds,but to remind youthat your heart is still capableof holding something beautiful?

What if the next chapterisn’t another storyabout everything you’ve lost?

What if, for once,it’s about everythingyou still have left to receive?

And I know.

I know it’s frighteningto make room for Lovewhen you still rememberthe sound your heart madethe last time it hit the floor.

But please,

don’t confuse being carefulwith being closed.

Don’t turn your heartinto a museumof everything that once hurt you,where every room is filledwith memoriesthat no longer deservea place to live.

You deserve morethan a lifetimeof watching Lovethrough a locked window.

You deserve to experience tendernesswithout searching for the tragedythat might follow.

To receive kindnesswithout questioningwhat it will eventually cost you.

To lovewithout treating every beautiful beginninglike a countdownto heartbreak.

So I hope the next timeLove comes knocking,

you’ll rememberthat the hands that broke your heartdo not get to decidewhat Love will feel likefor the rest of your life.

And perhapsyou’ll still be afraid.

Perhaps your hands will trembleas you reach for the key.

That’s okay.

Courage was neverthe absence of fear.

Sometimes,it’s simply refusingto let yesterday’s painwrite tomorrow’s story.

So open the door.

Not because everythingthat knocks deserves to enter.

But because your heartwas never meant to becomea permanent residencefor the people who left.

And I hope one dayyou’ll realizethat the love you lostwas never all the lovethere was left in the world.

Because Loveis still beautiful.

Love is still worth experiencing.

Love is not your enemy.

Love loves you.

And I want you,more than anything,to believe that.