by Doreen Virtue

Valentine's Day triggers thoughts of romance. If we're single, we may wish for a partner. If we're in a partnership, we may find ourselves longing for more romance in the relationship. Your guardian angels also know the importance of romantic love. A romantic partnership, or a soulmate relationship, can help us in many ways: increased happiness, health, support and companionship.

In my travels, I often meet people who ask me, "Is my current partner my soulmate?" Usually, if you have to ask whether a person is right for you, that means something isn't right in the relationship. We aren't meant to suffer in an unbalanced, abusive, spiritually devoid or romantically parched relationship.

I'm also frequently asked, "When will I meet my soulmate?" I'm so happy that Lightworkers are looking for meaningful, soulmate partnerships, instead of settling for "good enough" relationships. In my book, Healing with the Fairies, I wrote how the Romance Angels and the nature angels (the fairies) healed my own love life.

Through their guidance, I fell in love and married Steven, a spiritual psychotherapist and author who works with the spiritual realm. On our second date, we discovered that we were next-door neighbors as children. My first childhood crush had been on Steven. Imagine having a love-at-first-sight crush on the same person, twice in a lifetime!

However, we hadn't recognized each other until our second date, because we'd been apart for more than 30 years. During our time apart, however, we had amazing synchronicities: We both graduated with Master's in Counseling Psychology from Chapman University; we had two of the same publishers; we had children at the same time; we're both earth signs of Irish descent; and other synchronicities too numerous to name. Truly, we are twin flames. The angels and fairies want to help all of us heal our current partnerships, or attract our soulmate or twin flames into our lives.

In my new book, Messages with the Angels (Hay House, April 2002), the angels said the following about romantic love:

"Although romantic love doesn't hold a candle to the brightness of the Divine flame of love, and doesn't come close to the comfort that is unparalleled from being cradled in God's Divine perfection, romantic love does pose a worthy substitute of sorts. First, it provides you with a sense of safety and protection. There are so many feelings of danger in this world, yes? So many times when a longing for safety and protection is satisfied only within your lover's arms.

"Romantic love begins with a sense of safety, which is then substituted for an additional sense of danger along the way. What we mean is this: You initially begin the course of your relationship with open-minded trust, and then you pick items from your discourse that remind you of danger. You analyze the details of your relationship, deciding upon this or that as indications that you are unsafe. You then embellish these feelings with unhappiness, feeling that, once again, all of your hopes are being dashed.

"What you are really seeking within the context of a romantic love relationship is carelessness. A carefree attitude and spirit is the hope for all of God's creations. We do not mean that you would sidestep your responsibilities with carelessness -- oh, no. We merely mean that you would cast your cares and worries to love, and trust in the power of the universe to carry you safely.

"Your cares are wearisome, and they cause you great sorrow and heavy burdens. You seek a partnership where you can escape these encumbrances, if even momentarily. A respite from the constant turmoil and stress is essential to your soul's peace of mind. When a new relationship offers this escape, you, naturally, are blissful.

"The balance in a romantic relationship is thus, then: to keep the relationship from adding to your burdens. So many partnerships explode and die when a perception occurs that this relationship is creating more feelings of danger than it is easing. For when additional stressors occur as a result of the relationship, the natural reaction is to seek shelter and safety. This is when most relationships get into trouble, for the partner seeks this shelter and safety outside of the relationship.

"Only through casting your inevitable cares and worries to the true source of love, God, can a partnership remain on the highest plane possible. If the partners are willing to do this together, so much the better. Then, there is hope that romantic love will continue to be a shelter in the storm, instead of a mirage that cruelly offers sustenance that doesn't exist.

"Romantic love is a frontage road, running parallel to the true path of God's Divine love. Romantic and Divine love can complement one another, as they are essentially from the same Source. Yet, when romantic love is sought as a replacement for Divine love, dissatisfaction always creeps in. Remember to bring a sense of the sacred into your romantic love relationship, and to seek for safety and shelter together in the only place that it can be found: in God within."

Doreen Virtue, Ph.D. is a clairvoyant metaphysician and doctor of psychology. She is the best-selling author of the Healing with the Angels book and oracle cards. Her new book, oracle cards, and audiotape are called Messages from Your Angels, and will be available in April 2002 at your local or Internet bookstore, and also at Doreen's event in Minneapolis. She will present a Friday night and all-day Saturday workshop in Minneapolis on April 19-20, co-sponsored by The Edge Newspaper. For tickets, call (612) 343-3390 or 1 (888) 862-3421. For more information about Doreen's work, go to www.AngelTherapy.com.
Copyright 2002 Doreen Virtue