Diversity Rules Magazine

Diversity Rules Magazine Keep Up Now by Terry Ludwig Terry's brother Rob died of AIDS in 2004 and leſt her his writings of which Keep Up Now is the result. Terry can be reached at keepupnow@gmail. com. tions, Love is the most desired the most valued and the most misunderstood. What does love mean to you? Are you "in" love or are you "looking for" love? Perhaps you're "through" with love! What is love, anyway? Is it that warm feeling you get when you look into your beloved's eyes? Or, perhaps the way your heart beats faster when a certain someone walks into the room. It's the inexplicable emotion that lifts us high into the clouds…. and eventually sends us crashing to the ground. Don't get me wrong, I love be- ing "in love". I have been a love junkie for most of my life; per- petually pursuing my soul mate. Each time, I thought I found true love, it was not meant to be. I gave everything I had to the rela- tionships I was in, but still, they failed. Why was it so hard to find my soul mate? I wanted to have that "special" someone in my life. Eventually, I began to lose faith; I was certain; there wasn't anyone out there for me. When I lost faith in love, I fell into a very dark place. One by one, the hope of finding a loving relationship began to dim, until I landed in a fearful state of depression. I had chosen fear by default, because I had lost faith in love. I had searched and searched and had not found it anywhere… because I was searching in the wrong place… outside of myself. Finally, I decided to start giving that love to me. I began to say "I Love You", and wrap my arms around myself with a big hug, every morning to start my day. I made a point to do something I loved every day, just to show my apprecia- tion for having the opportunity to be alive. And I wrote a daily gratitude list to remind myself Ahh, February… the month of Love! Of all of life's celebra- how much I had to be thankful for. One by one, I forgave the relationships I had been in that had brought so much sadness and disappointment and instead, accepted the gifts each had bestowed upon me, with love and gratitude. I realized each relationship was ex- actly right for me, at the time, and each had served the purpose of teaching me how to love myself, and had given me the courage to be true to myself. They also taught me the power of forgiveness, revealing the true nature of Love. I no longer look for love as something outside of myself, something I lack that another must fill. I accept my inheritance as Love and the world is boundless, limitless and eternal. Love isn't something you find in someone else. Love is what you are. Love is what you bring to each relationship as a gift to share, without expectation. Love is the bond you share with all of your brothers that makes us all One. Once you tap into the real power of Love and experience the overwhelming joy and abundance that exist as part of your true nature, you realize how limiting your be- the only father's lullaby. You are mine, all that I have I will set before you but trust, my son, my will be done, in Love I shall surround you." – Rob Ludwig liefs had been about who and what you were. A whole new world opens up to you; you dis- cover the magnificence that comes of being Love. You focus on the abundance of Love you have to share with the world. What you share, you strengthen. You are exactly where you are supposed to be, at every moment. Each relationship is a gift; celebrate, love and forgive them. Be only Love, for that is what you are! Keep up Now with the stream of higher con- sciousness and stay connected to the Source. Three than, but as I grew, harsh reality unfolded, and pain I found, known now as fear; the common thread among us here. So I was one, just like the rest, apart from none and that would test my life's long les- son. Who am I? I cried unto the heavens and in reply I recognized "Did someone say, once long ago, that you were truly special? It's not by chance we recognize each other in our travels. I knew that

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