It's funny how we base most of our lives off of romantic relationships. I don't necessarily mean our own personal relationships, but relationships we witness between others.
Well, nearly every relationship I have trusted or believed in, or really even known, doesn't exist anymore. This includes my own parents who divorced when I was six, or breaking up with the guy I thought I would marry, or the couples I have known for years and years that felt as absolute of a truth as gravity, as though if that relationship ended, the world must have to end, too.
Well, like I said, those relationships are dead, and the world isn't over yet. But it does make me feel like permanent relationships aren't real, and no one could ever truly be with someone forever.
But then when I think of some of the couples I've known who had lasted and withstood circumstance and the test of time, it makes all of the other couples I took for granted in my life seem like a joke. These couples understood the meaning of commitment, and sacrifice, and even the miserable, weak word "compromise".
Commitment doesn't mean doing everything perfect all of the time or being unwavering in loyalty (although loyalty is recommended). It means fighting to be with someone even when they aren't these things, or even when you aren't these things yourself. And sacrifice doesn't mean giving up your money or your time. It means giving up your comfort or convenience, and sometimes it means changing what's important to you. And compromise doesn't mean losing or settling for less. It means picking your battles and knowing how to fight them, admitting when you're wrong as well as being patient when you're right. It means showing someone through love instead of telling someone in anger. Or it might even mean realizing that what you'd be giving up is insignificant compared to what the one you love will gain.
This mentality doesn't occur with people who are not truly in love. I believe true love exists, but I know that it's rare. It's not this serendipitous occurrence, but something you gain. It's something you have to work for, like respect or wisdom, or anything else that is worth anything. This is what couples don't know, or don't understand, or don't want to do. And this is why love becomes this fairy tale or imagined thing that will just happen to us when we meet the person of our dreams.
Everything good is hard. Anyone who thinks this doesn't apply to love will never know what it is and most certainly doesn't deserve it.
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