You Are God's Best Gift To me

The Last Love Letter Project is a series of hand-written love letters answering the following question:

If you could write only one last love letter to the person you love most, what would you say?

Participate in the Last Love Letter Project by writing your own letter and submitting it here.

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Dear Chris,

You are God's best gift to me. you are my complete opposite in so many ways, but you are my hero, my rock and the best life partner I could have asked for.

Thank you for trusting me with your heart. I love you with every inch of mine.

xoxo Chéri

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If this letter gave you a warm fuzzy, you should definitely write one of your own. You won't regret it. And if you feel like sharing the love, submit it here:

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What To Do When Love Becomes A Battlefield

I've heard one of the most difficult things in a soldier's career is returning home. One day you're living in constant danger. Every stranger acting suspiciously could be the enemy. Every abandoned car could be a bomb waiting to go off.  Even a random cell phone call can mean set off an explosion resulting in imminent death for you and your team. You have to be aware of people creeping up behind you, or hiding in dark corners. The level of alertness, and paranoia must be turned up to 11 all the time.

Then, suddenly you're discharged.

You're thrown back into civilian life. Every day you fight the urge to drop to revert to tactical procedures at the sound of a car engine misfiring, or turn and attack the person responsible for the too-close footsteps behind you. Even though your situation and surroundings have changed, your instincts and conditioning have not changed. You still have the habits, thoughts, and compulsions of a soldier even though danger is no longer imminent.

The stress that comes from having to fight back your most basic instincts on a daily basis can be overwhelming... even debilitating.

This is how I feel when coming out of a strenuous time in a relationship. The sudden transformation that occurs when two people decide to turn what was once a battleground into their home can be very difficult.

Despite efforts to forgive and forget, moving on in a loving way can take time, and often requires patience. Transitioning from a mental and emotional state of danger to safety, chaos to order, hostility to peace, constant suspicion to trust... it's not easy. There are days when I can't hold back the muscle memory. Little things - the tone of someone's voice, or a joke taken too seriously - trigger defense mechanisms that can reignite a war. Suddenly all of the progress towards peace and understanding are forgotten, and we're thrown back onto the battleground.

It's exhausting.

Sometimes I get so tired of fighting (or trying not to fight) that I just retreat and surrender inside myself. I feel safer if I don't do anything. Because if I don't do anything, then then there won't be anything to reignite the conflict.

But alas, it's not that easy. A relationship needs to be nurtured. The act of withdrawing, or not investing in the partnership will destroy it more quickly than anything else.

Here are 5 things I've learned (but not mastered) about healthy ways to fight as a couple:

Don't fight to win. Fight to find a resolution.

When your'e fighting to win, you make your partner your enemy... and the only good thing about having an enemy is when you destroy them in battle.

The problem is that when your enemy is also someone you love dearly, crushing them in battle loses its novelty. It just makes you feel like a jerk. The satisfaction of being "right" is lost in the misery of regrets.

One of the best ways to avoid the need to be right is to change the way you fight. Rather than fighting over small things (ie: who does the dishes, coming home late, or feeling distant) get to the heart of the issue. Maybe someone feels like their efforts to keep the house clean are going unappreciated. Maybe someone the stress of work is causing someone to withdraw physically, and they don't realize it's making their partner feel unwanted. Or maybe days alone with the children is leaving someone is craving a bit more 1-on-1 time.

Rather than accusing each other by saying, "You're not doing enough around the house!" or "You're not coming home on time!" Instead say, "Sometimes I feel like my work goes unappreciated. What would help me feel more loved would be if you ______. or "I miss spending time with you. I know work is busy, but I'd love to get some 1-on-1 time. Can I plan a date night for us?"

There is typically an underlying issue to every squabble that can be resolved with love.

Assume the other person is coming from a place of love.

Something I really struggle with is receiving feedback. Often, someone will come to me in an honest effort to make me aware of something I've done that may have been hurtful, or contrary to what my character.

Rather than appreciating that person for offering me an opportunity for growth, I react as if it were an attack on my character. I get defensive and hurt, even when the feedback isn't meant to be hurtful.

I'm trying to teach myself to take a deep breath after receiving feedback, and recognize the intent behind the critique. For example: If someone tells me something I said was hurtful to them, rather than interpret that as an accusation and act defensively, I am trying to remind myself that this person knows I'm the kind of human that cares about other people. They know I don't want to cause harm (especially with my words), and by making me aware of the situations when I fall short in that area they're giving me an opportunity to improve and grow.

And at the end of the day, becoming the best version of myself is really what's most important to me.

A disagreement isn't resolved with words. It requires action.

Talking about whatever causes conflict is part of reaching a resolution... but it's not the only part.

I've fallen into the trap (over and over and over again) of having a "talk," reaching an understanding and a resolution, feeling peaceful about everything, and then feeling confused and upset when the same conversation repeats itself a week later.

"I thought we already talked about this!"

Well, yes. We did talk about it. But did I do anything about it?

Probably not.

After reaching a resolution through talking, it's my responsibility to take ownership of making a positive change. If something I said caused harm, I need to avoid saying similar things in the future. If something I do (or more realistically, something I don't do) makes someone feel unwanted, then maybe I need to step up my game and make an effort to give more freely of my time, attention, or affection.

Not doing anything to address what caused the conflict in the first place only doubles the pain and resentment the next time it comes up... and it WILL come up.

You can only change yourself.

If you are waiting for the other person to take initiative and be the first to change, you're going to be waiting for a long time.

When we focus on changing the other person in a relationship, we turn into the person who keep score. Suddenly an act of kindness isn't just an act of kindness. It is a manipulation tool we use as leverage over the person we care about. We hold every one of our kind deeds over their head to show them how they are falling short, while you are making great strides.

Or worse...

We start to count the good deeds of our partner. We use their good deeds (or lack thereof) as a constant reminder of how they are falling short of their kindness quota. When we focus on their change (or lack thereof) rather than our own, we can only make them feel less empowered, less adequate, and less lovable.

The best way to inspire someone to change is not to criticize them or guilt them into it. Instead, lead them and guide them with acts love and words of appreciation and gratitude when they show progress.

Don't make it personal.

The worst thing you can do when arguing with someone you love is to take advantage of their most vulnerable weaknesses.

The foundation of love is trust. Creating trust requires a great deal of vulnerability. When you begin taking advantage of someones vulnerabilities, you are sabotaging the very foundation of your love.

Nothing hurts more than watching helplessly as someone you love mercilessly attacks you in the places they know will hurt the worst.

If you want a loving, lasting, healthy relationship, there can be no name calling, bringing up past hurts just to prove a point or cause more pain, playing off of someone's guilt or shame, or exploiting weaknesses.

This type of fighting is the gateway to abuse and can leave deep and lasting scars.

Yes, love can be a battlefield. Conflicts can get heated. People will probably even get injured. But returning home from the emotional warfare doesn't have to be as difficult as it often is. Learning how to fight is one of the things that truly separates the relationships that last from those that fall by the wayside as another statistical casualty.

What can you do to learn to fight better, and forgive and heal faster?

Thank You!

We are so, so grateful.

The last month for us has been full of incredibly high highs, and incredibly low lows. We have both given up full time jobs, and a steady income. We have left our families and friends. We have embarked on the open road, trusting the universe with our dream. We knew (and still know) that we couldn't accomplish it alone. We have been required to confront a lot of our greatest fears. Fear of rejection. Fear of failure. Fear of commitment. Fear of abandonment. Fear of asking for things—including money—from people we love and care about.

All of these fears experienced at the same time made for one overwhelmingly intense month of uncertainty and growth.

And now, here we sit at the precipice of something amazing. Your donations, time, support, stories, hospitality, love, and many countless sacrifices have opened up the door for us to pursue our dream to bring more love into the world.

Neither of us have a child, but I assume that the feeling we have now is as close as we'll get to bringing a child into the world. There is an overwhelming feeling of joy, pride, excitement, and anticipation, with a slight undertone of worry. You don't want to drop your baby on its head, after all.

We digress.

It would be a shame for us to continue blazing across the country without giving a nod to some of the people who made a special effort to make this project a reality.

Nate's Acknowledgments: 

Mom and Dad. You've let me live in your basement for a year while I figured out my life, pursued my passions. You never questioned my motives, or gave me any reason to believe you weren't fully supportive...even when I invited Melissa, a virtual stranger, into your home to live in the bedroom next to mine for 6 weeks. Your generosity, support and love means more than the world to me. Without you, this project would not be taking place. Thank you.

And to Melissa's mom, thanks for raising such a lovely, intelligent, passionate, and competent daughter who is not only acting as my travel companion, but my friend and my teacher along this journey. Your strength of character, humor, and tenacity shines through her every day.

Next, my friends:

Jonny, Steve, Garrett, Sandy, Jason, Josh, and Sarah, Ben, Jessica, Kristy, Joel, Zack, Zack, Michelle, Jeff and Kelly, Lauren, Torben, Vegor and Errin, Marisa, Amber, Molly, Lolly, everyone from my Bold family, and my Crossfit family, and friends that are basically adopted family...I'm just so grateful for you all. Thanks for listening to me prattle on about my dreams, my aspirations, my goals, and for helping me make them better.

Thanks for taking my ideas as seriously—sometimes more seriously—than I take them.

Thanks for being there to listen to me when I felt like I was going to fail, like I wasn't enough, or like this wouldn't or couldn't happen...and thanks even more for being the ones who told me to get up, press onward, and keep trying until I saw the success that you knew could see for myself even when I could not.

Melissa's Acknowledgments: 

Mom: You are the best mom I could've ever asked for. I think about how insanely blessed I am to have been raised by you every single day. Thank you so much for being such an active mom, and hustling to open doors so I could walk through them later in my life and make my wildest dreams come true. You are the most loving, honest, nurturing, gregarious person I know. It is truly an honor to call you mom; thank you for supporting me and all of my crazy adventures. I love you to infinity.

Camille & Craig: Thank you so much for inviting me into your home and treating me like part of the family. I felt so welcomed; there is incredible warmth in the home and family you've built. I learned far more than you know about love and commitment from being around the two of you for 6 weeks. I am eternally grateful. Thanks for raising such a great son—he's got a heart of gold, and his commitment, discernment, and care for others perfectly reflects the wonderful parents who raised him.

Sarah: For being like a sister to me for 6 weeks. You are the perfect combination of heart-centered, funny, thoughtful, and easy going. I feel so blessed to know you, and I'll be thinking about you for the next 18 months while you're learning, growing, and creating incredible memories in France.

To all of the incredible friends who have stuck by me through the highest highs and lowest lows, and shaped me into a better woman: Geada Lauren Ford, Jean Powell, Kate Picinich, Amber Rae, Emma Furman, Holly O'Dell, Liz Song, Franca Ruggiero, Bridget Moore, Maddy Leder, Bradley Tipper, Seth Kravitz, Jonathan Pasky, Crystal Shuller, Adam Miller, Jill Felska, Katherine Lannom, and Matt Runyon. You have no idea how special each of you all are to me. So thankful for every single one of you.

S: Save the best for last. I could never have planned for you and the role you would play in my life. You cracked my heart wide open, loved and accepted me for exactly who I am, and reminded me of what I'm waiting for. You are my inspiration and encouragement for chasing this dream. I literally could not have done this without you. Thank you for being the catalyst for this journey I am on—one of learning about what it truly means to love others, and more essentially, myself. You are part of every adventure I have and lesson I learn on this trip. My heart swells with love and gratitude for you, every single day. Thank you.

All the people we've interviewed and will interview: 

Your stories, wisdom, and vulnerability are the heartwarming center of this entire project. We could not bring The Loveumentary to life without you. We are beyond grateful to every single one of you for opening up your hearts and homes to us. Thank you for allowing us to tell your story. You crack open the minds and hearts of every single person who gets to listen to it. We love you, and are honored to know all of you!

To all of our Kickstarter backers: 

Seriously, you have no idea how rad all of you are. We are so ridiculously humbled by your financial support, and your willingness to share this project with the people you love. Every single dollar really did count, and we hope that every one of you who contributed knows just how much your contribution meant to us. You are the reason we are making this project—and one of our biggest dreams—a reality.

Our designer: 

Rachel, you are such an awesome human being. Without much direction from us at all, you jumped in and made our Kickstarter page look super amazing. We are so excited to work with you. Thanks for being so rad and patient throughout the craziness of the last few months. You are such a warm, lovely soul, with mad design skills to match.

Last, but definitely not least, we want thank our sponsor:

Couple App—woot woot!!

To Jessy and the Couple team: We are so grateful and excited to be sponsored by you! You have been so supportive of us, and this project couldn't have happened without you. We're so thankful to all of you, and feel lucky to work with such a talented team of people. Thank you for believing in us!

Also, a totally awesome plug—we seriously love Couple app. It's an incredible (and super fun) way to connect with the person you love. So, if you're in a relationship, this is something you must download today. We promise, you won't regret it. Download Couple App here!

The Truth About Nice Guys

For as long as I can remember, I've proudly worn the label of "nice guy."

As the "nice guy," I felt it was my duty to make sure my significant other was always happy... and more importantly, I felt it my duty to make sure that I was never the source of her unhappiness. I am the "nice guy" afterall, and only jerks cause unhappiness, right?

The paranoia of accidentally hurting a girl's feelings was my worst nightmare. I didn't want to lose my "nice guy" status, and get labled as a player or a jerk.

I found great pride in my ability to be kind, rational and tactful.

But kindness, rationality, and tact does not a "nice guy" make. I was falling short in one important area: Honesty.

Being honest is not easy.

Honesty is the foundation of trust, and you cannot have love without trust.

The hard thing about being honest is that it means you have to embrace the truth... and the truth can be painful. But "nice guys" don't like to inflict pain... remember?

As a result of my well-intentioned "niceness," I know there are many girls that will attest to the fact that I have not really done a very good job at being nice.

At all.

Not even a little bit.

In the past, when things start to go amiss in a relationship or I start to feel weird, I bury the feelings. I bottle them up rather than addressing them. Those bottled-up feelings turn into resentment. In the midst of that resentment, I push away the people (or person) I care about most which typically results in the end of a relationship. And the relationship typically ends without explanation or closure.

Then if the girl seeks out closure, I feed them a convenient and well thought-out lie that is far easier to swallow than the truth... at least easier for me to swallow. Rarely would my excuses for "fizzling" or ending a relationship without explanation paint the "nice guy" in a bad light.

Because remember, I don't want to hurt anyone.

Let's be honest, that sounds more like a jerk than a "nice guy." The "nice guys" can be the biggest jerks, and we don't even realize it.

I think at the heart of every "nice guy" is a guy whose true fear isn't that of hurting others by expressing the truth. It goes much deeper than that. A nice guys' fear is that honestly expressing the truth will make him unworthy of love.

If I tell her about my dark past, what if she turns and heads in the oppsite direction?

If I let her know that it drives me crazy to listen to her eat, will she think I'm nit-picky and therefore not worth the while?

If I tell her that I'm scared about how fast things are moving, or that I'm not ready for intimacy, or that I'm not comfortable with PDA, she might think I'm not the one for her, she might think I'm emotionally immature, she might think I don't desire her, or she might see me as less of a man.

The fear of the worst possible scenario is paralyzing. The fear of rejection, lonliness, and being not-enough ironically fuels the exact behavior that will prevent the "nice guys" from ever experiencing genuine connection, affection, and love.

The thing I'm realising is that the truth is inescapable, and it always has a way of catching up to us.

The truth is at the heart of every relationship. It's the foundation of trust, and love.

Being the guy who is honest, who embraces the truth regardless of how scary or ugly it is, is far more important than being the guy who is "nice" or well-liked. Inviting the truth into your relationships, and trusting the people you care about to handle it with grace and poise is honorable, and can even be exciting. It provides opportunities for growth and improvement... and really, that's what it's all about, right?

My new goal is to give up the title of "nice guy," and embrace the truth, regardless of how difficult and uncomfortable it might be for me. Nice guys (and girls) of the world, I invite you to join me.

Let's embrace the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

4 Things You Must Do to Meet the Love of Your Life

If you want to meet the love of your life, here's how:

1. Work on FULLY discovering and loving yourself.

You don't have to earn love or put on a show. You already have within you unlimited amounts of love to give—and it starts with giving it to yourself. How? Read interesting books that will help you explore and better understand human behavior and emotion. Spend time pursuing interests that tug at your heart. Identify the moments in your life that have made you feel most alive. Look for the themes. Are you always filled with joy when you dance? Write? Spend time outside? Have conversations with interesting people? Code a cool new website?

Whatever you discover about yourself and what brings you joy, go create more of those kinds of moments.

More examples of self-love:

Stop hating your body—it works so perfectly for you almost every single day. Every part of you is beautiful—start seeing it, because you are who you believe you are. The relationship you have with it perfectly represents the relationship you have with your Self. And, the relationship you have with your Self perfectly reflects the relationships you have with others.

Instead of being critical about your flaws, be curious. "Why am I reacting this way? Where is this feeling stemming from? What can I do differently?" Ask the people closest to you for feedback on both your greatest strengths and your self-destructive behavior. You can't change anything until you fully understand who you are and exactly what needs to be changed. We can all be blind to some of our habits and characteristics—so don't be afraid to ask those closest to you for feedback.

Self-discovery and self-love are both ongoing processes. We are now, always have been, and always will be both being and becoming. Be patient and gentle with yourself as you grow. If you are conscious about who you are, and who you want to become—you will slowly but surely move in that direction.

2. Be vulnerable with the rest of the world about the Self you're finding and refining.

There's no sense in lying about who you are. Pretending to be anyone other than the full expression of yourself is exhausting and pointless. Those who are meant to love you will love all of you. Every single serious, playful, messy, neurotic, crazy, loving, heartfelt, honest part of you. ALL OF IT.

And, by the way? The people that have the capacity to love you wholeheartedly are precisely the ones who know how to love themselves wholeheartedly. Spend time around them. Learn from them. They will teach you a great deal about the ongoing process of loving yourself.

It is important to understand that being ready for love isn't about being your idea of perfect—it's about being authentic. Take ownership of the gap between who you are and who you want to be. Embrace your worst traits with grace, and don't be afraid to love your best traits. It's okay to be proud of all of who you are—even the messy parts.

Your imperfection doesn't make you broken; it makes you human.

3. Stop holding people at arm's length.

Even if opening yourself up means letting a few of the wrong people in too close, you have to know it'll be fully worth it to have your arms wide open to receive the one who will truly accept and love you completely for who you are—and who you're becoming.

Part of the reason we're afraid to let people in close is because our human instinct is to fiercely protect ourselves and avoid pain at all costs. Unfortunately, this is fruitless. We end up being completely numb to life, which in the end, makes us even more unhappy with the way we chose to live life: fearful, superficial, and relationship-less.

It's important to remember: you cannot numb pain without numbing joy. If you want to feel the best of life, you've got to be willing to go through the worst. It is impossible to feel the true weight of joy without a personal understanding of life's sorrow. We experience via contrast. If we don't have the context of contrast—in our emotions or otherwise—we won't see the joy that's right in front of us. We are constantly surrounded by joy, but we have to prepare our eyes and hearts for being open to experiencing it.

This is easier said than done, of course. So, where do you start?

Start with recalibrating your relationship with pain. Raw human emotions last for about 90 seconds—that's all. Pain, as a feeling, only has to last that long. Anything beyond that is needless suffering caused by the repetition of negative thoughts in our minds. Isn't that crazy? Something that only needs to last 90 seconds, we often drag out for months or years.

To get over your fear of letting people in close, you've got to get over your fear of pain. The truth is, you are more resilient than you know. All pain is surmountable. Moreover, all pain is essential for growing into the best, fullest version of yourself.

The more you soak that lesson up, the easier it is to become okay we pain. And eventually, you learn to become GRATEFUL for it. Experiencing pain means you're courageous enough to be fully alive.

That's the kind of life you'll be proud of having lived.

4. Be willing to love someone else for all of who THEY are.

Just like you, everyone else is trying to figure it all out, too. Falling in love is not about finding a perfect person—it's about being excited and willing to love an imperfect person perfectly.

Look. No matter who you meet and decide to commit to, they will be different in 5, 10, 15 years. And you know what? So will you. That's not scary, that's awesome. When you come into a committed relationship with someone who is so on your team and wants the very best for you, just like you want the very best for them, there is no telling how much you'll learn and grow together.

You truly can't change people. And why would you want to? People are beautiful. The way we all strive so are to be better, to dream, to live those dreams out and share them with others? It makes us all so human, so stunning.

Be on someone's team. Whenever you start to criticize others, look for the real reason why it bothers you.

Annoyed by how serious someone is? Maybe it's because you feel insecure when they don't laugh at your jokes.

Frustrated because you think someone is constantly pointing out your flaws? Maybe it's because they are right and you're too defensive to see how much they love you—enough to be completely honest and vulnerable with you.

Think someone is trying too hard to get attention at a party? Perhaps you're projecting some jealousy because you feel invalidated by the lack of attention you're getting.

See where I'm going with this?

When you learn to take full responsibility for your thoughts, feelings, and behavior, that changes everything. You stop making other people wrong. You focus instead on improving yourself and becoming more of the person you want to be. That adds to the cycle of self-love. And when you love yourself, you have the capacity to love others. And when you have the capacity to love others, the most loving of them will be magnetically drawn to you.

You're not alive so you can learn how to be numb or avoid pain. Nor are you here to be perfect—or fake perfect.

You're here to become more and more yourself. You're here to have fun in the process of discovering yourself. And you're here to love other people fully, fearlessly.

That's it. That's all you've got to do to be in the most loving relationship of your life.

It starts with you.

You don't have to talk yourself into loving someone, nor do you have to try so hard to talk yourself out of loving someone.

Make your decisions about love out of trust—not fear. Trust your initial gut.

You'll know when you find it.

And more importantly, you'll know it when you're finding yourself.

Love Bricks

The Last Love Letter Project is a series of hand-written love letters answering the following question:

If you could write only one last love letter to the person you love most, what would you say?

Participate in the Last Love Letter Project by writing your own letter and submitting it here.

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It is an ageless story (or, at least as old as high schools have been around). The story of two who meet in their formative years, sharing the same classes and circle of friends. In our case, that was for the best. For us, being friends before being sweethearts was, is, and will always be the basis of our love.

For us, it was Chemistry and Algebra II, neither of which I was one-half as good at as she was. She was way ahead of me in those classes from the start. She was a sophomore, and I was a junior. She was straight A’s; I was a B+ student too busy with clubs and school activities. Everyone knew who I was; her circle of friends was much smaller. Day-to-day contact at school (and, luckily, a seat next to her in Algebra II) gave our friendship the time to sprout. Connecting on an intellectual level first, then learning of our similar backgrounds, brought us to know where the other had come from and where we thought we were going in the future.

They say that opposites attract and if you were to compare our personalities – her the introvert, me…not – that would be true of us. The reality was, and we came to know it soon enough, that our respect for each other intellectually and our common background and values demonstrated we were more similar than different, especially given that those attributes undoubtedly extend beyond high school.

I am sure that when we started dating we must have seemed the odd couple. It started inauspiciously enough; she wanted to stay at the school dance later than pre-determined with her mother, so she asked a mutual friend – her “pseudo-big brother” - to help her find a ride home, which turned out to be me. After introducing me to her mother and giving the appropriate assurances of a safe ride home, we spent the remainder of the dance together. So began the timeless story, our timeless story. The year was 1974, the sophomore class-sponsored Sweetheart Dance. We danced “Soul Train” style to Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s “Taking Care of Business” and drove to her house listening to Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” on the eight-track stereo in my blue 1971 Mustang.

Although I was not as smart as her, I was smart enough to ask her for a date for the following Friday, March 1, 1974. I was not smart enough, however, to pick a better song for our first kiss – Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a Feeling”. She would say that she knew I was the one by the hug I gave her at the end of the date. To this day, we laugh every time we hear, “Ouga Chaka, Ouga Ouga….”

Fast forward past the prom, college, marriage, children, tough times and better times, approaching forty years later, it is the laughing that keeps the love strong. Whether it’s good-natured fun at the other’s expense or, as we have developed quite the repertoire, inserting a favorite movie line into ordinary conversation, my heart sings when I hear her laugh.

She'll say, "Who forgot to close the door?" I'll respond, “Round up the usual suspects.”

Or, I'll ask, “What do you want for dinner?” She'll reply, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

Laughter + Loyalty = Love. Our Story.

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If this one gave you a warm fuzzy, you should definitely write one of your own. You won't regret it. And if you feel like sharing the love, submit it here:

[jbutton link="http://loveumentary.com/love-letters/" halign="center" size="large" color="blue" rounded="no"]Submit Your Letter![/jbutton]

You Have My Whole Heart

The Last Love Letter Project is a series of hand-written love letters answering the following question:

If you could write only one last love letter to the person you love most, what would you say?

Participate in the Last Love Letter Project by writing your own letter and submitting it here.

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Benjamin,

Our love may be relatively new in the grand scheme of life, but I wouldn't want to practice "loving" better on anyone else but you.

We may be mis-matched on some things, but I consider it our character-building moments, and we DO laugh a lot!

If you are a bird, I'm a bird. You have my whole heart.

Love, Kate

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If this one gave you a warm fuzzy, you should definitely write one of your own. You won't regret it. And if you feel like sharing the love, submit it here:

[jbutton link="http://loveumentary.com/love-letters/" halign="center" size="large" color="blue" rounded="no"]Submit Your Letter![/jbutton]

Love Is An Acquired Taste

"Somebody once told me we will never feel loved until we have no pretenses, until we are fully able to be ourselves and until then, we can only feel love in percentages. When I heard that I knew it was true. I'd spent a good bit of my life acting and getting people to clap for me but none of the applause did anything except make me want more applause. I didn't act in a theater or anything, I'm talking about real life. To be honest the thought of not acting pressed on me like a terror. Who trusts people to love who they really are? Who is willing to take the risk? Nobody steps onto a stage and gets a standing ovation for being human. You have to sing or dance or something.

But here's another thing I heard and its giving me hope. If you want to be loved, be yourself with people who are kind and trustworthy. So that's the new world I'm trying to live in. I act less than before and get a little less applause but feel slightly more loved. It's like slowly breaking a habit. It's starting to feel good.

Applause is a quick fix. Love is an acquired taste.

Here's to changing the percentages."

-Donald Miller

86,400 Seconds

Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!

Each of us has such a bank. Its name is time.

Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to a good purpose.

It carries over no balance.

It allows no overdraft.

Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no drawing against "tomorrow." you must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success. The clock is running. Make the most of today.

What will you do with your 86,400 seconds?

National Love Note Day 2013

Yesterday was National Love Note Day.

We decided to hit the streets and spread some love. We set up a 75 sq/ft piece of paper on the sidewalk in downtown Salt Lake City, and asked strangers to write a note to someone they loved.

Hundreds of people participated, and in less than 2 hours our love note was full. We loved doing this so much that we're going to do it again in major cities across America.

My favorite part about yesterday? We invited a lady to sign our love note. She told us, "No thanks," and hustled past. She stopped, looked back over her shoulder, and reconsidered. She then walked back, grabbed a pen, thought quietly for a moment, and  bent over and wrote a love note to someone.

She stood up and said, "Wow. I feel a lot better now," and walked away with a smile.

Love letters make everyone happy. Write a love note and submit it to our Last Love Letters project HERE.

We hope you enjoy some pictures from last night's experiment: