Is true love still possible?
We live in a world full of people who are in love with idea of love, and are addicted to the feeling of being in love. We hope for it, search for it and practically smother it once we finally get a grip on it.
If you were to head over to Pinterest and peruse the topic of ”love is”, you could spend a lot of time scrolling through the images and the quotes that accompany them.
Love is…
…when you’ve made it!
…making a great team.
…letting her have the first bite.
…seeing in him what other’s can’t see.
…wishing you could stop time when you’re together.
…where you want to be.
…falling in love with each other every day.
…having someone to lean on in a crisis.
…taking that second chance.
Those all sound great, don’t they?
But let’s take love a step further. My mother always told me that love is not a feeling, it is a choice. The feelings and emotions of love rise and fall, ebb and flow. But the choice to love someone … that’s a different thing all together.
Looking at the concept of love as a choice, would make the statements above much more powerful.
Love is…
… choosing to make it.
…being a teammate.
…willingly giving her the first bite.
…focusing on the good in him/her.
…making the most of each moment together.
…where you choose to be.
…deciding to love him or her every day.
…leaning on him/her in a crisis and being available to them to lean on you during their own crisis.
…giving a second chance.
Love is a verb, not a noun. It requires action and intent. It asks for both your heart and your head to engage in each moment. So it is of no surprise that when given the chance to comment about what they look for most in a relationship, people listed words that at the core, require action and intent.
- Trust
- Honesty
- Communication
- Respect
In a time in our history where the popular trend is to concentrate on how we feel, I suggest we be mavericks in our relationships and go against the trend.
Decide that within your relationship you will be a person of action and intent. You will choose to do, even when you don’t feel like it. Our families need more than a reaction to how we feel, they deserve our intention to act out of love.