I went to a friends wedding today. Mingled with the families, shared in the emotion of the occasion. Such a key moment in a life, that perfect honest shared love. Many people… yes me… were moved.

We all work every day for different goals, some meaningful, some trivial. But in the shade of love nothing else seems important. Nothing else is important. You could cure the world of every illness, but what would that mean if you could not share it with someone who loved you. The bigger your achievements the more empty you would feel. Yet just a day shared sitting on a beach with the person you love would leave anyone completely content.

We can get lost in the noise of life – bills, careers, responsibilities, even just striving to be good people. But it hit me today that love really is the key to everything. Love leaves you content in life and from there everything else slots into place. It makes you the person you always wanted to be. Without it the jigsaw of life is missing that one vital piece that holds the entire puzzle together.

Yet once you find it, love is impossible to resist, an overwhelming force. Couples literally risk their lives in cultures that forbid them being together, and sometimes pay that price, because love is inescapable. Because that is all we truly need in this short time and there is a part of us that will not allow us to let it go.

As I was watching my friend express his love for his new wife, I found the ancient latin phrase in my head – Love conquers all. And for the first time I understood what it meant. Perhaps it really does..

Another friend and his wife also gave birth to their first child – a boy – today as well. Brilliant. Quite a day…

Life. It gets you.