Cigarettes, chocolate, cocaine? No....

I'm addicted to Hoseasons.

I'd always associated holidays more closely with St Lucia than St Albans so, when I had kids, it came as a bit of a shock to find myself booking a UK cottage holiday.

Seven years on, my relationship with the great British cottage holiday is similar to that of an addict to her drug of choice. I am slightly embarrassed by it. I hide it from my husband. I rarely speak of it. But I spend most of my spare time thinking about it, searching it out and buying it. And I regularly overstretch myself to afford it (especially when I treat myself to a National Trust property - the purest high and oh so worth it).

But, sadly, getting the fix I crave is rarely easy.

Take this week. I need to book a weekend close enough to Legoland to satisfy a bribe being cashed in by Kid#1, but near Guildford. Simples. I shall find my perfect cottage in Surrey. Er, no I won't.

One problem is, regardless of which website you think you are on, soon enough you'll realise it's another Hoseasons white label. So, as you fly around the internet typing in 'family cottages', 'unusual properties', 'holiday lets', you still end up looking at the same places.

My search is not helped by my poor geography. I may be able to pinpoint all the states of America, but ask me how Stratford-upon-Avon relates to Bristol and I'm stumped. And so the fun continues as I seek out a pretty three bed, with availability, and a saintly owner who will do me the huge favour of letting us stay less than seven nights. How generous.

Four hours later, I have travelled a virtual world from Godalming to Dunstable, and journeyed past somewhere called Biggleswade. I have stared at dots on Google maps til my eyes bleed. I have considered squeezing us all into a one bedroom flat. I have thought of inviting local millionaires to come with us so we can afford a barn conversion. I have cursed my addiction, thrown the iPad at the cat, and in one moment of extreme desperation, even Googled 'Landmark Trust'. Don't be ridiculous, those places DON'T HAVE TELLIES.

How to Show a Man You Love Him? 7 Really Good Ways You Can Use to Show Your Affection

Sometimes it can be the easiest thing in the world to show a man that you love him and yet the most difficult especially if you don't have a clue how to go about it! Here are some simple yet very effective tips that can make your man sure that you adore him from the bottom of your heart.

Be faithful to your promises and vows
Don't be the type of woman who forgets all about the vows and promises she made to her man after she manages to hook him! He will feel used and betrayed if he finds out that you are a woman who cannot keep her word. If you make sure that you have integrity and loyalty towards him - he will not doubt your love for him.

Accept his faults and shortcomings
If you love him then you will accept him just the way he is. You will understand and accept his flaws and shortcomings. He will know that you really care when he finds that you are forgiving and loving towards him instead of being critical and judgmental in every way.

Be ready to make changes
One of the best ways to show him that you love him is to be ready to make the necessary changes that will help the relationship. If you realize that your faults and bad attitudes are responsible for jeopardizing the relationship and you are willing to do whatever is needed to save it, then it will prove to him that you love him and don't want to lose him.

Don't have too many expectations
Don't have too many strict laws, standards and expectations. The poor guy will not be able to come up to them and always feel intimidated and insecure. He will begin to resent the fact that he is "below par" if he does not satisfy you in any way. Instead be accommodating and compatible.

Be selfless and giving right through
The secret of a successful relationship is sharing. If you are willing to be utterly selfless and giving without expecting anything in return, it will make him confident of your love. In fact, your attitude will reflect your personality and character and prompt him to be as loving and sincere as you are.

Be completely faithful and loyal to him
Ask any man and he will tell you that fidelity is one of the biggest priorities of a relationship. No man can be happy with a woman who cheats on her partner. If you are faithful and prove it time and time again, he will know that you are sincerely in love with him.

Give him time
A man is only truly happy when he gets attention and loving from the woman he loves. If he is neglected or ignored in any way, he will start to look for attention somewhere else! If you are careful to make him feel wanted, appreciated and loved - you can be sure that he will recognize your feelings of love for him.

Give Love to Other People

I personally feel much more content and happy with myself when I am sharing love with others. There is not enough love giving in our world I am noticing more and more everyday. Why is this happening?

I have seen many articles written on love and most of them either revolve around religion or sexual relationships. Today I want to talk about love that everyone is capable of giving and receiving.

Sometimes I personally feel those without any religious background give love to other people more freely, mainly because they accept others for who they are as a person. To only accept others on what their belief systems you are actually shutting yourself off from some valuable life skills, these are the ones that help you connect with others.

Life is way to short to being sitting around hating and judging. Don't let things that have happened in the past stop you from having a loving future. If we want to have less dysfunction in our world we have to stop the cycle of hate and give love to other people.

Shame on the many religious people who can't help but to judge others. Judgment is a sign of you own in adequate feelings and hate well this also goes back to how you feel about yourself.

Now I'm not saying that life will ever be perfect. It can't be or there would be nothing for us to learn we would just be existing. But we can make choices to love ourselves warts and all and give love to other people.

Of course there will be times when we will all struggle to maintain a loving life, especially when we lose a loved one or are let down by others. Do you think hard times in your life is a good reason to not give love to other people?

I certainly don't think so, it can actually give your more strength to get through your hard times. To give love to other people can be done in so many ways. You don't have to make it this huge thing that you can only share with those close to you.

If you maintain a loving attitude and share your smiles and well wishes with others you are giving love to other people. If you stop to see if someone is alright when you are out and about this is being loving. Which means you can give love to other people.

Why are we so afraid of sharing this wonderful emotion with others? Is there really anything to lose from be loving?

Remember we learn through every experience so even the times you did give love to other people and it was not received positively, there was something to learn. Do you think it was to not love again?

No way we are made to be loving creatures, no matter who we are, what we do or where we live. I know this is an area in everyone's life that always needs adjustments. Imagine the change in this world if more people were concerned with what they were giving and not what they want for themselves next.

So helpfully you get the importance of why we should give love to other people. All people have so much good in them and imagine what feeling loved can bring out for those not receiving enough.

I hope you enjoyed this, keep smiling and never stop giving love to others.

Love and Freedom

One of the defining themes of my adult life has been this something that I refer to as Love. When the universe forced me into personal crisis a few years ago, it slowly became apparent that a key issue was love. Ever since then, my life has become, in one form or another, a meditation on love:

What is love?
How do I love myself?
Why does my heart feel broken?
Will I ever feel loved?
How do I love and be loved?
Does love exist?
Is it just an idea, or is it something real?

So far, I have learned much through this meditation; I have learned much on this journey. This article is designed to help you explore the contours of love in your life, so that you can enjoy the gift that is everyone’s birthright, the gift that the universe wants to give you.

In my experience, learning to love yourself is an essential step on this path of love. It is the first step because if you hate yourself, you can’t go anywhere. But how do we love ourselves? When I was first told to love myself, I had no idea what that meant, nor how to go about it. Love myself? You might as well have been speaking a foreign language. Loving yourself does not mean that you indulge every desire, whim, or impulse. Nor does it mean that you become infatuated with yourself, per se.

Loving yourself means that you take good care of yourself. It means you get rid of all those false voices that say you are defective, incompetent, unattractive, unlovable—whatever it may be. You begin to see more clearly negative voices of conditioning, and you discover that they are nothing other than conditioning. You slowly learn to break free from them, affirming your inherent self-worth, not because you have done anything or are any particularly way. You are inherently loveable simply because you exist. It is your birthright; it is the gift of being a human being. You accept yourself as you are, and allow yourself to grow and change in the direction of greater peace and harmony.

Self-hatred creates destruction and discontent. As you learn to love yourself, you break free from these negative tendencies and learn to treat yourself with the dignity and respect that is due to every human being.

As you learn to love yourself, as your own heart heals, the natural impulse is for love to flow outward. Your relationships begin to change. You begin to share love with other people. You begin to discover that love does most certainly exist. Yet this love is not a commodity. It is not something that can be earned through merit. Love just shows up. It shows up sometimes on this path of life. You might experience it with your best friend or your lover, maybe a child, or even a parent. As you explore it, you will discover that the love is there first. The love just shows up, and then you find out why it is there.

If you have ever had a particularly close love relationship, maybe with a dear friend, you will see how this is the case. Chances are you felt an attraction, a pull, a love toward that particular person. As you get to know them more and more, you discover that the love is there for a reason. Maybe it is there to teach you something, to help you grow, to help you change. Now the fact is that love is always there, has always been there and will always be there. It is simply easier to experience in relation to other people with whom you have a heart connection.

The biggest challenge with love for most people is the desire to cling, the desire to keep this something that we call love. Yet continual change is the nature of everything. So you must learn to relax on this path of love. You must learn to relax and allow love to come and go, to ebb and flow as it may. In this way, love can lead you to greater and greater freedom. You enjoy being with your friends, your family, your lover, but you also know how to be alone. When you are together, there is love. When you are alone, there is also love. You let everyone be free to do as they may. You are free to be as you are; to do as you do. They are free to be as they are; to do as they do. When you come together, it is a beautiful sharing. When you are apart, it is also lovely. You learn to float with the tide of love, coming and going, enjoying and relaxing.

You slowly learn to love the love. You learn to follow the love. If love leads you into yourself for a while, go there. If love leads you to particular people for some time, go there. If it then leads you elsewhere, just follow the love. For ultimately, you are love itself, only most of us do not know it. As you learn to follow love, you discover that it always guides you, teaches you, and informs you.

In speaking of love in relationships, one of my beloved spiritual teachers, Sri Nisargaddatta Maharaj said the following:

“You are neither the husband nor the wife. You are the love between the two.”

Allow your life to be a journey, an exploration. Inquire into this something called love; this force that permeates everything. Explore it within yourself; explore it outside of yourself. Follow it where it leads you, and you are guaranteed to learn something that you don’t already know. You are guaranteed to learn something about life, about love, about yourself, and about everyone else.

May love fill your heart always.

5 Simple Tips to Help You Fall Out of Crazy Love

Do you have any tips for falling out of crazy love?

I'm going to assume from your question that you are talking about a relationship which ended badly for you. The main theme for "falling out of crazy love" under such circumstances is the theme of healing.

You might want to consider the following:

1. Be aware that you have some grieving to do. Even if the relationship ended in anger, it is still a loss.
2. Part of the grieving process involves getting some clarity in two areas: a. an honest assessment of your role in the problems; b. acknowledging that which you did well in the relationship.
3. Be compassionate with yourself. Say some affirmations. Do an act of kindness for yourself. Nurture yourself a little.
4. Do some journaling. Write angry letters that you don't mail
5. Don't be in a big hurry to get into another relationship. Take some time to heal.

There are times when you still love a person but you are not "in crazy love" with them. Perhaps you have been drained by the relationship and are "out of love" for just that reason.

Did He Really Say "I love you"?

Have you ever been in a relationship with a guy that progressed to the “I love you” stage? That’s the stage of a relationship when things are going well; you are enjoying each other’s company, and you believe the other person feels the same way.

It’s the point where your relationship can become more than just a friendship – it can become a vessel of long-lasting commitments, tender moments, and soulful intimacy. And you can get so excited about the possibilities of a relationship that you hear things that have yet to be said.

Now, I am of the opinion that 50% of relationships could progress to a marriage. All it takes is a willingness to nurture trust and care in a relationship that has marital promise.

But, the relationship gets off course because the man, woman or both make choices that alter the direction of that naturally progressing relationship. One is the assumption that the other has expressed love for you, when indeed they haven’t.

When you believe that someone has said “I love you” when they really haven’t, you begin to expect the other to be there for you way before they’ve decided they want to be there for you. You get hurt, the other person is confused, and the relationship fizzles away into nothingness instead of progressing forward to marriage. It’s sad, because if more people knew what love was, they wouldn’t jump the gun before its time.

For example, here are some phrases that sound like I Love You but really aren’t.

* I love that about you (I admire that aspect of you).
* I think I’m falling for you (I may love you, but I am not sure).
* I could love you forever (There’s a possibility I could love you, but I haven’t made up my mind yet).
* I love being with you (I love the way spending time with you makes me feel).

I mean, it’s hard to ignore what someone says, and some of these phrases do sound like a declaration of love. But they’re not. Saying I love you is sharing with a person that you care for them, want to aid them in life, and want to be responsible for their well-being. It’s a major step, and one that shouldn’t be ignored. If a person loves you, they can become a reliable companion for you.

The difference between I love you and I’m in love with you.

Many times, you’ll hear someone say to another, I love you but I am not in love with you. This usually means “I am motivated to be there for you, but I am not romantically attracted you”. But did you know that people can be in love with you, but not love you?

Being in love with someone is when you admire their body, character, motivations, personality, habits, or abilities. It’s focused on how that person makes you feel when they are around you and how much better the world is when you get to share their company.

But loving someone requires more than that.

Loving someone requires two things. First, you have to believe there is some way you can help that person. You have to see a way you can show care, and the more opportunities you find, the more you believe you can love them. Second, you have to make a decision to be there for them. Even if you see there’s a way you can nurture, protective, encourage, suffer with, or aid a person, you still have to chose to do all those things, regardless of how that decision will affect your own life. Loving someone is less about what the person does you for, and more about what you can do for them.

So, sometimes, when you “think” you hear a person say they love you, they’re really saying they’re in love with you. They like you, they admire you, or they are aroused by you. The focus is on what you do for them, not what they can do for you. It’s beautiful, but it’s not enough to begin sharing crazy love with that person. You have to wait for the “I love you” both in what they say, and what they do.

Here’s how love acts:

Love hurts when you are injured, and rejoices in your gladness.

Love protects you from the world’s harsh realities and comforts you in the deepest places of your soul.

Love bends.

Love forgives you when you make a mistake, over and over again.

Love needs you to have the fullest life possible, and makes sure it helps you experience that life, one day at a time.

Love gives.

Love sees you at your best when you are at your worst.

Love reminds you of your future more than focusing on your past.

Love hopes.

Love is love and nothing else.

When a man and woman say “I love you” it’s because they want the other person to know they have made the decision to be there for them. And they want to hear if the other person feels the same way about them. It’s a turning point of any relationship, because now you can judge the other person’s intentions based on their actions.

Some people will still say I love you, and not mean it. But many people won’t even go there if they don’t mean it, because now they are really on the line. A friendship can go on for months and months, but once you say I love you, it’s either on or off, yes or no, is you is or is you ain’t!

So please, only say “I love you” when you mean it, and give the benefit of the doubt when someone else says it. If they really love you, you’ll know it because they will begin to treat you with love, if they haven’t already. And until they do say so, enjoy the time you share with your friends, and wait on love to blossom in its own time. If love is there for you, you will have it. And if it’s not, love may be waiting for you in the heart of someone else close by.