ROMANCE AT HOME!

Your wedding day is often billed as the most romantic time of your life, but we think that it's what comes after that will keep you smiling throughout the years. Your marriage will be made over impromptu breakfasts in bed or late-night talks on the front porch. But is your house ready for the wonderful moments ahead? Don't worry. Our quick and easy tips make it simple to add romance to your home.

1. Living Room.
Do you love snuggling up to your spouse over a video, or is a cocktail while discussing the day more your style? However you like to spend time together, the right lighting will always enhance the occasion. Illuminate your couches and armchairs with standing and table lamps, and make sure you keep candles and matches on the mantle. Also consider installing dimmer switches so you'll always have the perfect amount of light for any kind of romantic moment.

2. Patio.
Picture lazy mornings out on the patio reading the paper, or summer nights enjoying a glass of cold chardonnay. Your patio is the potential site of many romantic moments to come, so take the time to transform it into your own secluded world. The careful positioning of a few potted plants and ferns can give your patio a lush, private feeling. Choose pots in a variety of sizes, and select plants of varying heights. Ficus trees and ferns make excellent choices for the patio, and cheerful geraniums provide the perfect accent. Also plant a few baskets with trailing ivy or create your own hanging garden with pansies, begonias or impatiens. Remember to consider fragrance as well as color and texture when planting your patio pots and baskets. Herbs like thyme and rosemary, or sweetly scented rose bushes are all wonderful selections.

4. Bedroom.
A quick slick of paint is the fastest way to add atmosphere to your bedroom. Whether you prefer cozy peaches or soft blues, make sure the color you choose reflects the mood want. Warm tones such as coral, sand or ecru create an intimate feeling; cool shades such as celadon, tiffany blue or pure white work for couples looking for serenity. Bold colors, such as red, blue or yellow are perfect for couples who value playfulness above all. A major painting trend is using color on one or two walls, with the rest of the room kept in a neutral accent shade. Also, don't forget to select a complementary color for your baseboards and trim.

5. Deck.
There's nothing more romantic than an al fresco dinner beneath the stars -- especially if it's in the privacy of your own garden. Make sure your deck is ready for all those summer nights to come with a long-lasting, weatherproof stain. Staining your deck is easy and inexpensive, and protects the wood from deteriorating. And the bonus: Being outside together staining the deck is actually a lovely way to spend a weekend day.

LOVE WITHOUT CONDITION

"I love you as you are, as you seek to find your own special way to relate to the world, or the way you feel that is right for you. It is important that you are the person you want to be and not someone that I or others think you should be."

I realize that I cannot know what is best for you although perhaps sometimes I think I do. I've not been where you have been, viewing life from that angle you have, I do not know what you have chosen to learn, how you have chosen to learn it, with whom, or in what time period. I have not walked life looking through your eyes, so how can I know what you need.
I allow you to be in the world without a thought or word of judgment from me about the deeds you undertake. I see no error in the things you say and do, in this place where I am. I see that there are many ways to perceive and experience the different facets of our world. I allow without reservation the choices you make in each moment.
I make no judgment of this for if I were to deny your right to evolution, then I would deny that right to myself and all others. To those who would choose a way I cannot walk, whilst I may not choose to add my power and my energy to this way, I will never deny you the gift of love that God has bestowed within me for all creation, as I love you so I shall be loved; as I sow, so I shall reap.
I allow you the universal right of free will to walk your own path, creating steps or to sit a while if that is what is right for you. I will make no judgment of these steps, whether they are large or small, nor light or heavy or that they lead up or down, for this is just my viewpoint. I see you do nothing and might judge it to be unworthy. And yet, it may be that you bring great healing as you stand blessed by the light of God.
I cannot always see the higher picture of divine order. For it is the inalienable right of all life to choose their own evolution and with great love I acknowledge your right to determine your future. In humility I bow to the realization that the way I see is best for me does not have to mean that it is also right for you. I know that you are led as I am following the inner excitement to know your own path.
I know that the many races, religions, customs, nationalities and beliefs within our world bring us great richness and allow us the benefit of teachings of such diverseness. I know we each learn in our own unique way in order to bring that love and wisdom back to the whole. I know that if there were only one way to do something, there would need to be only one person. I will not only love you if you behave in a way I think you should, or believe in those things I believe in. I understand you are truly my brother and sister though you may have been born in a different place and believe in another God than I.
The love I feel is for all of God's world. I know that every living thing is part of God and I feel a love deep within every person, and every tree, and flower, every bird, river, ocean and for all the creatures in all the world. I live my life in loving service being the best me I can, becoming wiser in the perfection of divine truth, becoming happier in the joy of unconditional love.

Romantic Love is Ever lasting

Romance does not necessarily have to fade away in the long-term relationships and transform into a friendship-type love, according to a new study. Romantic love can last a lifetime and lead to even happier, stronger and healthier relationships.

The study's lead researcher, Bianca P. Acevedo, PhD, from the University of California, Santa Barbara, said that many people identify romantic love as passionate love, which, in her opinion, is not true. The scientist explained that romantic love has the same intensity, involvement and sexual chemistry, that has the passionate love, with the exception of an obsession. Obsessive love is always accompanied by feelings such as anxiety and uncertainty, and never survives for a long time.

To come up with this conclusion, Dr. Acevedo and co-author Arthur Aron, PhD, analyzed 25 studies with more than 6,000 individuals that were engaged in the short-term and long-term relationships. The researchers planned to figure out if romantic love was associated with more satisfaction in a relationship. In several studies, the relationships were classified as romantic, passionate/obsessive, or friendship-like love, and categorized as the short- or long-term.

The first study involved 17 short-term relationships of single, dating or married college students with the ages between 18 and 23, whose relationships lasted less than 4 years. The second study analyzed 10 long-term relationships of middle-aged couples, with the marriage experience of 10 years or more. And, finally, two other studies included both the long- and short-term relationships in which it was pretty much possible to distinguish the two samples.

The results revealed that those individuals who said that they had a great romantic love, were much more satisfied in both the short- and long-term relationships. Participants from both the short- and long-term relationships, who reported that their love was mostly based on friendship, only moderately associated their relationship with complete satisfaction, and those who reported passionate love in their relationships, were more likely to be satisfied for the short period of time, rather than the long term. Also, couples who expressed the most satisfaction with their partner, turned out to be much happier and had higher self-esteem.

According to Dr. Acevedo, when partners feel and know that they are there for each other, it always creates a strong bond between them, and leads to a good relationship, which, in turn, contributes to stronger feelings of romantic love. On the contrary, when people start feeling insecure and jealous, they start also experiencing less satisfaction, which in many cases leads to misunderstandings and conflicts in the relationships. All this can point to the signs of an obsessive love, she said.

This new findings may change people's perceptions and expectations of what they really want in long-term relationships. The scientists wrote that companionship, or friendship-type love, which is what people usually see and expect as the natural transformation of any happy relationship, may be an unnecessary compromise. Partners should fight for their love with all the possible means, Acevedo said. And couples who have been together for many years and wish to rekindle their romantic feelings, should remember that this is an attainable goal that, like most good things in life, requires patience, energy and devotion, she concluded.

MEDITATION: A TIME FOR LOVE

Though many people every day all over the world sit on floors, on cushions, on their heels or on chairs in an attempt to enter into some level of inner stillness or broadened consciousness, very few actually ever manage to go very far into that sought-after state. Most people do feel more relaxed after the quiet times in which they chose to meditate. That is in itself a worthy result. But most wish that they could go further into the stillness, further into their inner beings, further into the world of spirit – and they are saddened and frustrated that the times of attempted meditation do not bear more fruit. What is it that keeps most meditators from achieving higher consciousness and lasting inner peace in spite of their repeated efforts to do so through their meditative practices?

The most frequent reason that keeps people from having the greater, more desired effects of their meditative practices is that they do not love. If you enter into meditation with intentions of stillness and peace, but your heart is not opening with love to that which is the Great Love, not much will happen. The great mystics of all traditions have not coincidentally also been the great lovers of God. When they entered into meditation, they went into their inner chambers anticipating with great yearning and devotion to have a meeting with God. That God is God of Love, so the meeting and the relationship had to be one of love. This is not the romantic kind of love, because it is not about what you can get for yourself. But it is most definitely about the possibility of entering into the fullest, deepest and most profound love relationship any person can ever have.

To have a lover/beloved relationship with God within, you will have to be ready to accept the profound experience of being completely known and loved to your very core. You will need to be prepared to have the experience of that love changing you and your life in unexpected ways. When you feel that loved by this Being that knows all your faults, all your weaknesses, and all your wounds, you will either accept it in awed humility or you will pull back in fear and shame. To be prepared to be able to accept the experience of such profound love, you will need to do some work. The work involves you opening up to the feelings that you have repressed and which you have been afraid to feel or too ashamed to acknowledge. The inner experience of Divine Love has to move through your heart, so your heart will first need to be opened up to your own feeling of all that is in it. Then, when you can face yourself and your feelings, you will need to be able to ask for and accept forgiveness for what you have done wrong. Without this step, you will be too afraid or too mad to be able to open to the influx of that great Love.

If you are willing to do this preparatory work and make your heart one that will be able to receive and hold the experience of the Love that God within you holds for you, you will discover being completely, deeply and unconditionally loved in a way no human could ever give to you. Then you will begin to know who you are and who God is. Then you will begin to truly know how to meditate.

Where Should You Go On Your First Date?

Where Should You Go On Your First Date? Don’t you find the question often coming to your mind before you go on a date with someone for the first time? Always choose a public place for the first date so that both of you are comfortable enough. Go to a nice restaurant or go to the mall together for some shopping. Visit a fast food place or a coffee shop. Choose any place where you can carry on conversations. Don’t visit the movie theater coz both of you will watch the movie instead of chatting. Just choose any casual, non-formal place with lots of people around.