I’ve got a question to ask: what would you sacrifice for the person who means everything to you? Depending on your answer, you can probably gauge just how much you love that person. If you say "anything," you're probably with the "right" person, meaning the one you can see yourself with for a long time. If you find that there are many things you wouldn’t sacrifice, however, it is unlikely that your relationship will work out.

I’ve been in love before. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that I was, but there was always one thing that I just couldn’t sacrifice: my education. My parents always told me, “school comes first," and as I got older they didn’t have to tell me anymore, because I knew that education and success would give me the life that I wanted.

I made success my top priority even when I was completely head-over-heels in love. School first, love second, was my mindset, and I am not the only young person today who has let love take the backseat while they chase after the things they thought would make them happy.

In this fast-paced and competitive world that we live in, we’re bred to try to do better than our parents. That means striving to get perfect grades, stacking up our extracurriculars, landing the most elite internships, and getting into a good college. Because of these lofty expectations, we either put off dating and relationships until we have our lives together in the years after we graduate college, or we get ourselves into relationships that are doomed to fail because we are unwilling to sacrifice our so called "perfect futures" for anyone.

But what if success isn’t what is going to make us happiest? What if, by putting everything else first, we are actually making ourselves worse off because we are losing out on real and true love?

I have always been a strong believer in fate. I believed that if I and the person I loved were meant to be together, we would be. As I’ve gained more and more insight into the notorious feeling called love, though, I’ve realized that you need to make sacrifices for the person you love. You can’t expect them to put you first in their life, if you’re not willing to do the same for them.

I think all of us hope that we can have both success and love. I believe that it’s possible, but I also think that sometimes you do have to make a choice. But the question still remains: what is the right choice?

Well, I don’t think that there is a right choice that applies to everyone. I think it depends on you and your situation. For me, I can’t say whether I made the right choice or not. At the time, I thought I did, but I also didn’t know that I was making the choice right then and there. If I had known, I don’t know what I would have done. I know that I am happy with my life now, but I don’t know what it would have been if I had chosen love. Therefore, I don’t know what I have missed out on.

I don’t want another person to be tortured by these "what if" questions. If you are forced to make the decision between success or love, you need to honestly ask yourself what is most important to you. If you believe that the person you love is worth sacrificing everything for and will make you as happy as you possibly can be, be with them. Don’t be ashamed of those sacrifices, because love is a beautiful thing. If you think that success is going to make you happiest, strive toward your goals. Don’t let anyone get in your way. Most importantly though, don’t make your decision based on what you believe you’re "supposed" to do. Don’t let society dictate your life. If you are truly happy, everything will work out. Have a little faith.