For several weeks now there has been a topic circling in my head: unconditional love.

I have jotted several ideas, go back and forth in arguments and it has been hard to come up with an answer to my question: does loving unconditionally means supporting every single decision our loved ones make? Where is the line that divides unconditional from self-love?

If I put the mom’s hat on, I have to admit there seems to be no purer form of love than the one we profess our children, partly because it comes with the innate desire to protect like a lioness with all of our jaws and hoofs; to support and to encourage; to wanting to keep them away from suffering but to incite them to fly on their own.

The spouse’s hat is peculiar because it also means “I love you because we are a team and I promise to renew our vote everyday while keeping my ego as tamed as possible." Your heart swells because besides many other things, the sum is better than the parts.

I have always envisioned the friend’s hat as a steel helmet. I want to put my whole armor to fight with them whatever battle they are facing, regardless if I think there is a chance of winning or if the fight makes sense. That is the time when I know that a friendship is held by love and respect rather than circumstances.
But what happens when we don’t agree with our loved ones' decisions or opinions? Should our love pick up the pieces of our discordancies? Or should our love stand tall beside the tree of honesty?