It’s always a scary thought to ponder on. Think about it for a second. Imagine two people who meet and take a chance on one another. They see that they have a spark. They decide that maybe there’s something there that is worth cultivating. And so, they decide to dive into the relationship.
And everything goes well for the first part. It’s all so fine and dandy. Everything feels so bright and amazing. It’s as if nothing could ever go wrong in the relationship. But then, suddenly reality is going to start to rear its true head. And it’s not always going to be a pretty one.
There are uglier aspects to love and no relationships are going to be immune to it. And some relationships are going to crumble underneath all of that pressure. Some relationships end up falling apart because of all the challenges and difficulties. Some relationships are not built to withstand all of the tension.
And when that’s the case, it’s likely that these two people who once meant the world to one another end up drifting apart. This is the classic case of strangers who turn into lovers and who turn back into strangers again.
I just happened to be conversing with an old friend recently and she had just broken up with her boyfriend after spending 5 years in a relationship together. She was telling me that recently, she had run into her (now ex) boyfriend on the street and they hadn’t even acknowledged one another.
They both pretended like the other wasn’t there. And how weird as that? At one point, these two practically meant the world to one another. And now, they’re crossing paths with one another and they don’t even acknowledge each other’s presence anymore.
Of course, I wanted so desperately to be supportive of her. But I just couldn’t help but wonder why things turned out that way. I don’t get how such drastic changes can overtake the dynamics between two people.
How does one develop that level of heartlessness? How does one learn to be so apathetic? Okay, I know what you’re thinking right now. Maybe life doesn’t always go our way and we have to learn to roll with the punches.
As much as we would want to be living in the ideal, we aren’t always going to get a chance to do so. Sometimes life forces us to swallow our pride and our feelings and act as if nothing is affecting us. Sometimes, life can break us to the point that it’s too unbearable to just even say “hello” to someone on the street.
But I can’t help but think about things on a deeper and more profound level. All people in relationships always start out as strangers. And then we fall in love with each other. We then get the chance to experience some of the best memories and cherished moments in life with these people.
We allow ourselves to be vulnerable with these people. We share who we really are with them. We open ourselves up to them in very deep and intimate levels. We completely let ourselves become naked in front of these people. We undress and we allow them to get inside our souls.
We allow our whole lives to revolve around this single individual. But then, one thing goes wrong and everything changes drastically. Everything that we know and are familiar with just gets turned on its head.
Deep down inside, your soul and your heartache. Your spirit is broken but you try to put on a brave face. You try to make it seem as if you are unaffected by all of it.
And when you happen to run into each other on the street, you feel that your heart screams and your soul leaps. But you keep it all hidden inside. And instead of giving in to your feelings, you act as if you don’t even see them. Instead of saying hello, you refuse to acknowledge your existence.
And that’s the part that fascinates me the most. Where does the love go? We know love to be such a strong and powerful force. But how is it possible that a strong force like that can just go away so easily?
I know the real truth. It’s not easy to let true love go like that. We might try to force ourselves to forget but we don’t really forget at all. Because the truth is that a love like that just doesn’t go away. It never goes away. It always stays with you. It remains. It demands to be felt. No matter how much you might try to ignore it. It’s never really going to go away.
