How I did it: When I set this goal it was because I was ending a very long, very unhealthy relationship. I was feeling lonely and empty and lost and angry. I wrote this thinking about the fairy tale, the happily-ever-after we're often searching for but rarely (if ever) finding.

Over the past few months, as I've spent time talking to a homeless man on the street, as I've worked with a lonely older woman who is only just learning how to live again after years of being closed off from the world, as I've opened my heart and my eyes, I've realized that I am surrounded by love. It's strange, but realizing that makes me realize I don't need anything else.

Lessons & tips: Don't close yourself off by thinking love has to look a certain way or come in a certain kind of package. Love is everywhere. When you realize that, it's shocking. You look around yourself and wonder how it is you never saw it before.

Resources: Riccardo, the homeless man who writes for and sells Street Vibes. Thich Nhat Hanh, who has always preached about the power and importance of love. The Dalai Lama. The people who have hurt me. My friend who wrote about how he feels lonely and left out. Lisa and Ken, whose relationship has always been an inspiration to me.

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Sep 22, 2009, 05:05PM PDT | 0 comments | 6 cheers