It's officially 2017, and although turning the page on a calendar doesn't change anything about our abilities or character, there seems to be an urgent sense of determination to better ourselves or something within our lives. So, here's a goal.
Our culture says it's okay to make your relationship look like any other around you. It says it's okay to belittle the idea of love and throw away traditional extravagant measures that seem to only exist now on a TV screen. But deep down, I think we can all agree that there's something so exciting about those gestures, something so nostalgic and explicitly romantic. There's something about those gestures that we all crave.
Men, it's time to start realizing you're capable of offering those gestures. While women may seem horribly picky about your every emotion, action and breath, we have yet to give up on you. We haven't lost faith in your ability to take big leaps, to go farther than others around you, to make these big gestures. After all, time shows that the men who win are willing to make a fool of themselves as they make the big gestures and take the big leaps. They swallow their pride, and then they get the girl -- the girl that's worth having, the girl that doesn't wait around.
Women, I think it's time we start realizing that we don't need to wait around. We don't need to be okay with another ordinary relationship. We can be perfectly fine on our own, but we have also chosen to say yes to the men who don't understand their capability to make those big gestures. Stop losing sight of the traditional moves, the extravagant gestures, the extraordinary kinds of love, and help your man realize that they are within his grasp in your relationship. Otherwise, you're just letting every minute you spent watching Cinderella as a child be put to waste.
There are good guys, and the good guys do win in the end. That's why Patrick Verona won over Kat Stratford and Bianca eventually chose Cameron over Joey. That's why Noah Calhoun gets Allie after building a house for her despite the fact that she was engaged to another man. That's why Margaret Tate chooses to marry Andrew Paxton just to stay in the country. That's how Austin Ames got Sam and Troy got Gabriella and Will got Ronnie. No matter how cheesy these movie story references are, I think it's time to start making the movies our reality again.
Without a little bit of risk, there will be no reward. So let's put ourselves out there. Let's be okay with big gestures and high standards. Let's wait for what we're worth. It's 2017, after all. Let's go for it.
