Many try and control their external surroundings so the outside world matches their expectations. Only when the sun is out or X person acts in Y way can they feel love and be happy. Michael Singer writes “If you were willing to experience the moment that’s unfolding in front of you, you will have the opportunity to be inspired by everything. The simple fact that things exist will be sufficient to move you.” This picture brings to mind one of my many favorite Grateful Dead songs - Looks Like Rain. It reminds me that love can shine through any state. And our expectations for what “should” happen are limited. The below is another excerpt from Michael Singer’s Living Untethered which explains it beautifully. “Eventually, you wake up. You realize that you want to feel love. Not that you want to love someone or have someone love you – you just want to feel love all the time. If your love is not dependent on anything or anyone, it can last forever. We call that unconditional love. Meher Beba, the great yoga master, said, “Love must spring spontaneously from within. It cannot be coerced, and it cannot be dependent upon anything.” That’s what pure love is. Otherwise, you have a temporary situation that just happens to match your stored patterns. Unfortunately, this will not last. This doesn’t mean you don’t have meaningful relationships. There are beautiful relationships, and they can last forever. In fact, they get more and more beautiful all the time. But they are not... based on the world outside matching our internal patterns. They are based on unconditional love. Once love is always flowing freely inside of you, you will be pleased to share it with another person. Such love is not based on needs or expectations – it’s based on true love wishing to express itself, unconditionally.”