When I hear the words unconditional love, my first thoughts are of God's love or a dog's love.

I had a dog that would come lay close to me and put his head on my lap when I was angry. I don't know a person who would do that; we usually run from anger. Sam wasn't afraid of my anger. His presence was soothing and helped dissipate the anger. It was confusing and amazing to me that he would do that. He taught me that words aren't always necessary; being close speaks volumes. Maybe we need to know that it's O.K. to not say anything, it's enough to just "be".

Not being able to speak, dogs are also unable to say the wrong thing, which gets us into trouble.

I've seen so many times throughout my life how dogs are sensitive to how we feel and they figure out a way to tell us that they care.

They are real; they have no reason to be anything less than what they were born to be. This builds trust; a vital part of every good relationship. We can learn a lot from them when it comes to how to love. They are happy to see us whether we have been gone two minutes or two weeks. They lie for hours at our feet or by our side just to be near us. They bounce back after we get upset with them as if it had never happened; at times memory loss isn't a loss at all.

As I have learned from a professional animal behaviorist, Cesar Milan, dogs live in the moment. They are never too old to learn new things or too far gone to learn to behave in the right way.

I have the same hope for us as humans; we can all learn to do the right thing and when we don't, A genuine heart-felt "I'm sorry" goes a long way in mending the pain. I grew up with a dachshund who wouldn't hurt anyone. One day we were playing and she accidentally bit me. She licked my face profusely as if to say "I'm so sorry, I would never bite you on purpose. Oh, I'm so sorry!"

I remember having a conversation with a friend about forgiveness and he told me that when I continued to bring an incident to God asking Him to forgive me, He would say, "What? You did what?" He forgets and places our sin as far as the East is from the West. He throws it into the deepest part of the ocean to remember it no more. Once we ask for forgiveness, we receive it, that's it, it's over. I'll never forget his beautiful answer; it brought healing to my heart.

God loves us no matter what. It's not a matter of deserving it, it just is. It is there when we mess up, fall down, scream, blame, cry, and want to die. It is there when we go to church, don't go to church, live responsibly, live irresponsibly, love, hate and are so scared we can't see straight. That's why we need Him; He can always see the road ahead and He is there to walk, run or crawl down it with us. There are times He carries us and our load because of the weight of it all. If we cannot do anything to earn it, what could we possibly do to lose it?

This is not to say that we are to blindly trust. Relationships take time and are not to be taken lightly. Be cautious in the beginning as friendship is new. When trust grows, give love freely and without reservation.

My definition of unconditional love is:

Unconditional love is a soothing presence in the midst of anger and pain; the ability to be heard without saying a word. Genuine love shows sensitivity to others, provides the ability to build trust and be true to ourselves. Loving unconditionally lends patience, forgiveness and sometimes even forgetfulness. It does all that it can to not cause pain and when it does, is genuinely sorry. It is available no matter what we do or how we feel. It is unable to be earned or lost. It teaches us to learn from the bad, embrace the good and to throw some things away in order to enjoy the blessings of forgiveness and peace.

In conclusion, be cautious as a cat guarding your heart; when trust happens, love and live like a dog, unconditional and in the moment.