Honestly, what is love? This four letter word has been the cause of many breakdowns and breakups. As one of life’s biggest mysteries, his is a question that like everyone else I have been asking myself for the last seven years. I am no Aristotle but I have formed my own hypothesis on the question and will hopefully help all hopeless romantics everywhere.
About seven years ago, I started dating my first boyfriend. I had this whole vision in my head of how things were supposed to be (thanks to Disney movies and Nicholas Sparks.) Although we have had some major ups and downs and a few break ups, we are currently in a relationship. After much contemplation and realization, I have concluded that the meaning of love is actually simple and I wasted my time back in middle school trying to figure it out.
Contrary to most fairy-tales, it’s not about having that life changing moment where everything makes perfect sense and you start dancing around New York City with a plethora of woodland animals that sing along with you- aka Disney’s Enchanted. To be honest, you’ll most likely come across a person that just sticks and you realize that you like having them around.
It’s not about having a “goals” relationship like the annoying ones that pop up on twitter all the time. It’s not about being the next Allie and Noah or Kim and Kanye. No relationship is perfect and nothing ever goes and planned so it’s better to be your own couple goals and just figure things out as you go
Most importantly, loving another person isn’t hard; it’s simple. I’m not saying it’s easy but it shouldn’t be a constant struggle every day.
Love is about finding someone who makes you happy. It’s about living each day in the moment. It’s about genuinely caring for that other person’s happiness more than your own.
I by no means have a perfect relationship. I don’t know how long we’ll be together or if we’ll even get married. I have learned to take everything one day at a time trust that everything will work itself out.
I don’t even know if I am right about all of this, I am only twenty years old after all.
What I do know is that I am truly happy and I can honestly say that I love the kid and isn’t that all anyone can really hope for in a relationship?
