Unconditionally Yours

Unconditional love! Isn't that what we all want?? I'm not exactly sure yet what I'd like to say about it, but I know that this is my topic for the day. Suppose you have a friend who is a totally annoying drunk, but otherwise a good person, or maybe your kid sister steals from you head stash when you're not around, or your father-in-law talks about you and everyone else behind their backs (or whatever). You still have to be civil towards them for "political" reasons, but secretly, you wouldn't mind if they moved to another state. Is there a way you can uncover the meaning of unconditional love with these folks, and if so, what's the difference between being a doormat and accepting people for who they are? Goethe once said, "If I accept you as you are, I will only make you worse, but if I treat you as the person you are capable of becoming, you can become that person." I'm still unsure of how I feel about this quote. How do I know what you are capable of becoming? Although I do like the notion of a self-actualization revival. What about the guy who thinks that, at his best, he can be the biggest stud and bang the most women-certainly his idea of achievement is different than mine, so who is correct? Afterall, it's his life, right? I think to myself, through some miseducation or life-trauma, he's adopted poor values, but who am I to judge (as long as I'm not one of those women). But what if I am? Can I find a way to love him unconditionally? Hmmmm. Maybe or maybe not. I'm still working on this one. What if loving someone unconditionally means you have to let go of them or cut them out of your life because of the effect their behavior has on you. Is that love? I'm confused, and writing about this brings no clarity. All I know is that unconditional love is the answer to the question-the one we've all asked in one way or another. Now, with that said, how do we get there??