So… valentines. A day dedicated to love. It’s the day to post cute pictures on Facebook and Instagram of you and yours holding hands or cuddling. It’s the day to send sweet love notes and flowers, opening secret notes in the high school staircase, hoping that it is from that special someone.
Yup, Valentines is great for those who have a boy/girlfriend. But for those who don’t, sometimes it can be a painful reminder that others have something we don’t.
“True love is rare, and it’s the only thing that gives life real meaning.”
― Nicholas Sparks, Message in a Bottle
But is that really how we think of love? Like something that is great to have while its good, something to be shown off and told about, the starter for gossip in the bathrooms, the reason you feel important or special among your friends?
Sure, all these things aren’t wrong, but if they are love’s only identity, then I think we are looking at it wrong. If that is all that love is, then dating becomes a game, and marriage a conquest. True love wouldn’t exist.
Call me a romantic, but I am someone who believes in true love. The kind one has for someone they care about, enough to look past their flaws, accept their quirks and want to spend the rest of their lives with said someone.
This is the sort of love that I feel is worth having, and worth waiting for.
“If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it is yours. If it does not, it never was.”
This quote speaks of true love, and the willingness to want what is best for whoever you love, even if it means letting them go.
This sort of love can be between a couple, and hopefully will be shared with you and who you eventually marry, but it also can be a love between sisters, or brothers, your father, you mother. You get what I am saying.
There are many different kinds of love. And in my opinion, we shouldn’t just have one word to cover it all. Yes, there is the sweet kind between boyfriend and girlfriend, and the sappy flirty kind, but those aren’t the only kinds of love.
I should know. I’ve got parents who love me a whole awful lot, enough to put up with my mistakes and help me in all my endeavours.
There’s also the love one shares for a sibling. Yes, it might feel like love/hate some of the time, but despite you knowing the worst side of your siblings, somehow, we still manage to care for them deeply, under the momentary frustration.
And then there’s the love between friends. The willingness to stay up all night with your bestie who just needs someone to rant to, the hours you spend together cooking up plans and going on new adventures.
So love can come in all shapes and sizes.
Yes, I am single, but that doesn’t mean I am not loved. I have so many people around me who love me. Everyone has at least one person looking out for them.
And because of this, I am content to wait for that special someone to come around in God’s time, and not my own.
(Though I can’t say I’m not waiting in eager anticipation 😉 )
So. Even though this is a day later than Valentines, I just wanted to encourage you all to remember those who love you. Give a rose to your grandma, and slip a chocolate into your Mom’s purse. Send a secret note to your brother.
Who said love had to just exist on Valentines?
Let’s break the trend peoples! Love was meant to be shared.
Over and out.
Lara