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Today's Love Is .... guest post is from Helen who blogs at  http://www.allthebeautifulthings.co.uk/

When I volunteered to write a post with the theme 'love is' for the Little Lily Pad I couldn't wait to get started. It then dawned on me that actually I didn't know where to start! 

Can you really describe what love is?  

Is to love the same as to be in love? What is love?? I was surprised that when I thought about this how much the cogs turned, if you could have seen inside my mind at this point I expect it would have looked like the London Underground!!  

Of course thinking about love and what it means is going to be different for everyone and there are so many ways that you can love. I 'love' my best friend but this love is different to that of my parents or husband say. Then there is the unconditional, deepest love for your children that nothing else comes close to. Love is so many things, it can be walking in the countryside on a warm spring day, holding hands with your husband, going on holiday and relaxing, feeding the ducks, waking up on a sunny morning or spending time with friends when they need you.

I think there a few defining 'love is' moments for me. Here are some of them:  

Love is my Dad falling seriously ill a few years ago. He wasn't supposed to make it. My love for him as a daughter was redefined at that moment. That father/daughter bond is stronger now than it was before. 

Love is my husband seeing me through 32+ hours of labour and him supporting me (mentally and physically!!) through one of the toughest times of my life.

Love is seeing my best friends marrying the ones they love and being part of their special day. 

Love is all the precious moments I spend with Alfie. I didn't have that initial rush of love that people talk about, that moment for me came when he gripped my finger for the first time and I realised that this incredible little life that we had made is solely dependent on me. 

Love is hearing bad news and then re-evaluating your life, realising that you should cherish every single second, time spent with parents is precious, time spent with friends you've known for years is precious and life itself it is precious.  

I have of course had the obvious 'love is' moments which I am sure you can all guess what they are but I think that for me love is defined by those unexpected moments that creep up on you when you're least expecting them. 

Forgive me if this post seems all over the place. I think it gives a reflection of my mind, in my line of work we reflect everyday, it's a necessity as a Nurse, I think that's why my mind is so scrambled at times! Hopefully you'll see what I'm trying to get at, that love is something that manifests itself in so many different ways that it is truly difficult to sum it up.

 I leave you with this quote:

“They say a good love is one that sits you down, gives you a drink of water, and pats you on top of the head. But I say a good love is one that casts you into the wind, sets you ablaze, makes you burn through the skies and ignite the night like a phoenix; the kind that cuts you loose like a wildfire and you can't stop running simply because you keep on burning everything that you touch! I say that's a good love; one that burns and flies, and you run with it!”  - C. Joybell