When you can easily allow yourself to trust, love and be open, you know it is the real thing. While most of the loves in the past required a great deal of effort, almost as if you had to pry open your heart with iron to talk yourself into leaping, this one simply did not. The entire dynamic is one of peace, a peace I had not imagined. To find yourself falling effortlessly is something that is hard to put into words, but the feeling encapsulates you with warmth and ease. There was a time when I doubted that I would ever find it. I imagined a life of jet-setting and fun, but not with a man that I would return home to when the trip was complete. I wondered if any men at all deserved trust? I figured that a commitment and devotion were things that my parents had, but not something that I would ever find. I pushed hard against the door of cynicism that keep trying to pull me in. I did not want to be bitter, resentful or hard. I did not want to close myself off, or erect too many walls for some gentleman to scale to get into my heart. I wanted to stay the way I was: open, excited, happy, romantic and hopeful. Luckily I was able to, although it became increasingly difficult when I faced a few let downs in close proximity to one another requiring me to really evaluate where I was in life and what I was searching for. 
In the end, I realized that I need to get back to my roots and surround myself with inner happiness and love and somehow that all worked. When I look back to even a year ago, I am thankful for the changes I made, for the risks I took and for the fact that I remained open and hopeful despite a sea of frogs. What I have found today is the effortless love that I have always idealized. It still does exist.
