How do we love?
Today the world loves selfishly. No one really cares about the person with whom they have supposedly “fallen in love” with. They are quick to move on; quick to revenge; quick to blame, to point the finger. Couples in today’s world look for a new “friend” as soon as they fight with their significant other, that makes them feel special. They are quick to fall out of love and very quick to compare. “He doesn’t do this, she doesn’t do that.” We no longer think to look past our significant other’s negative qualities, to look inside and see all the reasons you fell in love in the first place. Instead, we dwell on the negative, seeing only perfection in the “others” that we find new friendship in. Blinded by our selfishness, we don’t realize that once you break love, you’ll never be able to sit still in any relationship. In today’s society, when a couple fights, the guy goes to work and finds another girl that he gets along with better, a girl that laughs at his jokes and makes him feel appreciated. Everyone thinks it’s harmless until the guy thinks/realizes he’s fallen in love with this new girl, his lover, and ruins his present relationship for the “new” feelings. Then the cycle is repeated with this new girl, the feelings get old, they see each other for who they really are and begin to fight and then he goes in search for another harmless “friend” that will make him feel good about himself, yet again continuing the viciously “harmless” cycle.
This is our society; filled with hurt, hate, and pain. No one loves; no one knows how to love. No one allows themselves to wholly invest in another; one with whom they can fall in love with over and over again. It’s a sad place. It’s a sad situation. There are so many broken families, hurt children, and sad souls. And no one seems to know that all they have to do is not give up. If only no one gave up so easily, the world would be a much happier place. Families would stay intact; children would grow up with one father and one mother. If only people would be willing to set themselves aside long enough to see that love is there, love has always been there. If we could teach each other how to love, permanently, then our relationships and the love they were built on would last longer.
All it takes is selflessness, to put ourselves aside. To realize that we only need one person to complete us, no matter the differences or whether you completely get each other or not, no matter what . . . one person can make the difference.
Once you have fallen in love and have chosen someone to be your person; you have chosen a fish from the river. Once you have given up all the other fish, you do not go and sit next to the river with your fishing rod. You get up with the fish you caught and don’t look back. If only everyone would apply that principle to their relationship and friendships then love would last a whole lot longer.
How do we love? We may never know, because no one is willing to put themselves aside long enough to learn. We can only hope that one day the people will truly understand what it takes to make a relationship last. We can only hope that one day people will realize that they need to stop sitting next to the river once they have chosen a fish and move one and learn to fall in love over and over again with that one fish . . . without looking back at the river.
