Unconditional

My efforts to be selfless by trying to please everyone but myself weren't working. The focus was on their response rather than on what seemed right for me to do. There was nothing unconditional about this kind of giving. ~ Courage to Change, page 90

When you don't expect a Thank you,
when you don't erupt at petty, childish acts,
when you feel sorry when all the years past
you would have raged, push her buttons
before she could get your next one,
when everything you did was meant to earn
that oh-so-longed-for Thank you…
When you think every moment
not about how she feels, but how you do,
when you take a simple kindness as a gift,
not as your due, when honesty to yourself
is more important than any smile you might receive…
When you change from living life like a puppy
panting for a kind hand on his head, a loving scratch,
and seek self-respect and peace of mind,
a feeling of serenity inside, of a day well lived…
That's when you've learned what it means
to live unconditionally.