I’m not claiming to know absolutely everything about love. However, I do know that it’s always something that you need to fight for. I know that love is always something that you need to work hard at. I know that love isn’t something that’s given; it’s earned. When you fall in love, you need to know how to make a compromise. You need to be able to make a few sacrifices in your life for the sake of your relationship. And when you do so, you need to make sure that you carry no grudges or ill feelings moving forward. You can’t be so mad about having to give up a few things here and there for the sake of love.
If you hold on to those negative emotions, it’s going to eat you up inside and destroy your love. When you’re in love, you’re always going to have to support each other’s dreams. You’re always going to have to do everything in your power to make sure that your partner knows how much you’re willing to fight for them. You have to be willing to prove that you are able to put the needs of the relationship above your own – and that you do so voluntarily. You need to be able to swallow your pride. You need to be able to be humble enough to accept that you aren’t always going to be right; you aren’t always going to get your way.
You should be able to live with the fact that you’re not always going to get everything that you want – and you need to move forward without any bad feelings. You’re going to have to be there for your partner whenever they get fired from their job and they have little cash left in their bank accounts. You need to be able to be there for your partner when they’re going through some kind of quarter-life or midlife crisis that is preventing them from finding happiness in life. You are going to have to be there for your partner even when it’s difficult… scratch that. You’re going to have to be there for your partner ESPECIALLY when it’s most difficult.
Because that’s what Shakespeare said about love: it should not alter when alteration finds. Love isn’t something that changes depending on the situation. Love is not something that can choose to exist or not depending on when it’s convenient. Love transcends all conditions. Love transcends all situations. When love is there, it should be present whether in good times or bad. You can fight and argue as a couple every now and then; and that’s fine. That’s still a part of what love is all about. But what you really need to learn is that beneath all of that anger and disagreement, there is a foundation of love that the two of you need to always fall back on.
You need to always go back to your roots and find your way back to each other whenever a disagreement is driving you apart. You need to gracefully face your partner and find a way to come to a compromise. Meet each other half way. You need to be able to talk about the things that make you uncomfortable. You need to be able to have those discussions that are awkward and touchy. You need to be able to have difficult conversations if you both know what’s good for your relationship. The both of you need to open yourselves up to really communicating with one another.
And you need to keep in mind that healthy communication isn’t just about saying whatever you want to say; it’s also about maintaining an open mind and listening to whatever your partner wants to tell you. You need to be expressive; but you have to be just as receptive as well. When you’re in a truly loving relationship, you shouldn’t be competing with one another. You shouldn’t be keeping score in your relationship. This isn’t some kind of power struggle that the two of you can be taking part in. It’s not a game wherein someone gets to come out on top. No. That’s not how love is supposed to work. You aren’t competing against one another; you are a team.
You shouldn’t be fighting with each other; you should be fighting for one another. At the end of the day, love isn’t going to always be a smooth sail. It’s not always going to be a walk in the park. And that’s fine. Because through it all, you don’t want love to be TOO easy. The best things in life don’t come easily after all. And there’s no denying that love is the single best thing we could possibly ever experience with another human being. And if there’s one thing in this life that’s worth fighting for: it’s definitely love.
You defined the meaning of love to the “T”. I was very close to to your exact words. I lost the love of my life to another woman and it was because he was cheating and I never knew. It broke my heart how he ended us. Twenty years gone.
My heart will never be the same.