We've all heard the same story; the story of how an older couple met.
It could be your parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle, it doesn't matter. We've all sat down with someone older than us and asked, "So, how did you guys meet?" After that, it's nothing but a magical fairy tale of how he first laid his eyes on her at college and immediately knew she was the one for him. He describes the way her hair rested on her shoulders and the sparkle that appeared in her eyes when she spoke about something she loved. She describes the butterflies that swarmed her youthful soul when he walked by, and how he took her on romantic moonlit drives that seemed to last forever.
The sad part about this all is that these stories are not fairy tales.
These stories do not contain unrealistic situations and made-up characters. They contain real people, real experiences, and something that has become a taboo to our generation... genuine feelings.
Having feelings towards another person nowadays is seen as a weakness. It is considered weak to open yourself up to another person and show them the untouched corners of your mind. It is considered weak to let yourself fall in love with someone for who they genuinely are. It is considered weak to let someone make you happy.
Why is this? Why has it become such an issue to let yourself care for another person?
People our age put up walls because they hear about their friend who was so heartbroken by their breakup or the friend who got cheated on. We put up these walls in order to avoid getting hurt, but in the end they only hurt us more. They hurt us more when we sit back and realize that these are the walls that held us back from loving someone that could've treated us so perfectly. They hold us back from the true happiness we deserve all because we were too afraid of what could have been.
Even though we develop these walls, we all have the nerve to develop unrealistic expectations of relationships. How many times have you logged onto social media and seen something with the "relationship goals" tag? How many times have you scrolled upon your feed and seen pictures of a couple posted up on a Mercedes, counting money or outside a mansion? That's not what love is.
Love isn't measured in dollar signs.
Love isn't measured in Instagram likes or Twitter favorites.
Love is measured in the feelings you have towards another person, and the feelings they have towards you.
This is just a short reminder that it's okay to express what you feel to another person. It's okay to open yourself up to someone. You could be that grandparent one day telling your grandchildren the story of how you met your significant other, and the way your heart dropped at the sight of them.
Just love endlessly and eternally.
Take chances and take risks, because those could be some of the best choices you make in your life.
