Falling in love is not like it is in the movies.

You don’t just fall in love instantly after one magical night.

Love at first sight and the “spark” we feel is real, but true love is a long-term partnership.

Love takes time and commitment. It takes patience and compassion for one another.

Learning each other’s strengths, weaknesses, likes, and dislikes.

Falling in love can be like a song.

Starting off slowly, building up to the chorus, the moment you know your falling.

The bridge is the instant you second guess yourself.

The final verse, where you begin to build your life together, no longer a solo, but a duet.

You must commit yourself, to finding your rhythm together.

It won’t be perfect, there will be times when you disagree.

This isn’t the movies, things don’t just happen perfectly, but that’s the beauty of love.

We don’t want perfect, nor should expect it.

Within the flaws of a relationship, you find compromise and new strengths that were once weaknesses. You find that the battle is not meant to be fought alone.

You are supposed to fight together, as one.

So here’s the hard truth about falling in love, it is not perfect, nor is it pretty.

It’s not tied up in a little bow like Cinderella.

It is messy and sometimes confusing.

In the end, the last verse of your song plays in a beautiful, duet harmony.

Your weaknesses are now their weaknesses and their strengths are now your strengths.

Anything you once fought alone, hopes you once lost sight of, are now brighter than ever and together as one, you can do anything.

Love, a powerful four-letter word, one meant to be shared with one another.