Has someone you cared about hurt you on a regular basis? How do we love them?  Or...should we even try to love people who don't love us back? 

I was once in a situation where someone close to me provoked me on a daily basis. I wanted to love them freely, but they were controlling, manipulative and insulting. I survived by adopting sarcasm as a second language, avoiding one on one situations with that person, and putting up walls to make me feel as safe possible. To other people, I appeared strong and confident, but on the inside I felt lonely and misunderstood.

My boys always discover ridiculous videos to entertain our family, like Good Mythical Morning with Rhett and Link or Dude Perfect. Well, one time they found this video called Brain Games. The producers of the show conducted an experiment with nine elementary-aged kids. They were stuck in individual rooms, each sitting at a table with a plate of irresistible, fluffy, pink cotton candy. Here were their instructions. “You can eat this now, or wait fifteen minutes and get two more cotton candy balls just like this one.”