Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart.

Affection that is not returned does not disappear. It has already changed the person who felt it, and that capacity does not depend on the other person accepting delivery. This is not a consolation prize and it does not make the disappointment smaller. It is a claim about where the value of loving somebody actually sits.

If you are on the losing end of this, you do not need to convert the loss into a lesson. Just be careful not to conclude that caring was a mistake. The instinct after rejection is to close a little, and closing costs more over time than the original bruise.