I was listening to a song and heard the phrase, “Love never lasts.” This seems to be a reoccurring thought in a plethora of lyrical poetry; however, I never questioned the entire meaning of it until right now. Love never lasts? I can’t help but disagree. Sure, not all relationships last, but that doesn’t mean that the love hasn’t.

I used to think this quote meant that love always dies, but I realize how naïve that is. It’s ignorant of me to think that love is the only aspect in a relationship. Sure, love and sacrifice holds basis to all types of aspects, but if it were real love, it wouldn’t be so quick to whither, ever in fact.

Last time I checked, when people split, there's a period of time that they don’t know what to do with all of the love left in their hearts. They’re overcome by anxiety, pain, hurt—the love is almost so strong that it could kill them. Saying love never lasts might cushion the blow in the fact that they’re gone, but what you had made together is always going to be there, whether you like it or not.

When a relationship ends, the love doesn’t die, but the patience, understanding, communication, and empathy does. It could be a lack of love, but only a lack of love for our own flaws. If we all truly accepted ourselves, there would be no wars, no violence, no misunderstandings, nor hate. It’s never a death of love, but a death of the people we used to be. Maybe that’s the only way we can truly grow, like snakes shedding skin.

I once read a quote that said it could take an entire lifetime to get to know somebody, which couldn’t be more accurate. We never truly know someone until we’ve seen the various versions of who they’ve been. We either accept them for it, or spiral into resentment.

Sometimes, letting go is the only way to show how much we truly love someone. We’re bound to grow out of people, places, and things, but what we’ve cultivated during those parts of our lives will always be a part of us. Our most painful experiences tend to make us the strongest, so let's utilize them in the direction of love instead of burdening ourselves with hate.