We see it in movies all the time, our favorite couples splitting up because of many reasons even though they were in love. We may have even witnessed this first hand, long-term relationships ending even though we think the feeling is there. We constantly ask ourselves, is love really enough?
Falling in love is the easy part to any relationship. I think we sometimes confuse ourselves with different types of love since there are so many. We get in relationships with people that we have a connection with even though it may not be a romantic one. We allow ourselves to be with someone we may not see as ideal just because a feeling is there, even if we're not sure what that feeling is. Sometimes we decide to look past that something feels off just so we can say we found love because it's become so exhausting to keep looking.
We look past certain things just to allow ourselves to get the satisfaction of a relationship. I'm not talking about flaws, everyone has those, even the person we do end up loving. But when we love someone we learn to love them for their flaws as well as their perfections. We look past major things like the way a person treats us, a lack of communication or lack of romance and fire, just because we think we love someone. We excuse those things because we think love can conquer all. Eventually, that fire will die and we have trouble looking over things that once were minuscule.
Even in its most pure form, love sometimes still doesn't seem enough. I'm not saying because of external factors but more from the people itself. In order for both of you to succeed, you can't bank your relationship on being in love all of the time. You can't excuse everything your partner does because you love them, or let the relationship fizzle out while you're not paying attention. A real relationship requires work, it requires communication and it requires a mutual amount of effort. You can't expect to have a fairytale if you never try to make your partner happy or try to improve on things together.
I don't think it's that love isn't enough, because I truly think that two people who are in love, true love, they will always find a way to make it work. I think instead that we sometimes fool ourselves into falling in love, and that will never be enough. When you find someone who is the person you want to be with, you do everything in your power to stay with them and if they feel the same, they will do the same for you. Working hard together, growing together, communicating and overcoming obstacles together is what makes you stronger. If you're not both doing these things the relationship won't work, because it's two sided. And if you're not doing those things, one or both of you isn't in love.
Love is always enough, because love is deeper than a feeling. It's your effort, your time, your willingness to see your partner smile, your ongoing communication and so much more. Love will always be enough if you both agree to never stop fighting, because love is a fight itself and the only way to win is to work together.
