I was listening to Tom Jones. Yes, that’s right, I’m referring to the curly haired singing icon from the 1960s.

My musical taste is diverse. And when I drive long distances, the iPhone cycles through random songs so I can be surprised. It’s a game. Like when there was only AM/FM radio and you would try to guess the next song.

Tom’s song, “Help Yourself” came on.

I had forgotten I owned it but remembered why I bought it. Just read the lyrics below…

Love is like candy on a shelf
You want to taste and help yourself
The sweetest things are there for you
Help yourself, take a few
That’s what I want you to do

You can’t help but smile when you hear this song. He’s singing about love…he has so much of it to give. It’s free and he wants to give it to you.

Is that what love is about? A free exchange that’s mutually beneficial to the giver and receiver. And according to Tom, all you have to do is choose.

Yet…if love is like candy, it would be sweet, you would feel good about it. But as we know, there’s a dark side to candy. Consume too much and you end up with a toothache. Get a flavor you like and it’s hard to give it up. Stick with the same flavor and you eventually get used to it and want something different.

There’s a lot of candy out there. You sift through the shelves; looking for the right one. The problem is, just because you like the wrapper it doesn’t mean you’ll like what’s inside.

Maybe you take a chance and grab one. You read the ingredients and wonder if it will be sweet enough.

Going back to Tom.

Is he right about love? Is it free?  Or like many things in life, do you pay a price?