Why Everything Feels Right When Love Is A Choice | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Relationships

Why Everything Feels Right When Love Is A Choice

My feelings are not fake, or a way to fill voids, or a distraction from being lonely. I am happy and I choose love.

256
Why Everything Feels Right When Love Is A Choice
Nicole Fung

I have spent a good amount of the last four years living abroad, and in traveling I have realized I always carry with me an indescribable emptiness, a void that can only be referred to as homesickness. After years of dealing with this feeling, trying endlessly different ways on how to feel better about being away from home, all the puzzle pieces came together and something clicked.

First, it was noticing what made me homesick. What did I truly miss? I have the strongest support system in my family, and whenever I was away, I felt I lost that. I tried to compensate with having tons and tons of friends. However, that was futile. Superficial relationships like that only led me to feel like I was hollow, carved open; exposed vulnerable for all to see without any comfort to ease my restless nights.

Second, once I acknowledged having a support system was the key, I realized why I stopped feeling that way recently. I have better friendships now than I have had in a long time. My teammates have become like family, and without the fear of being looked down upon, I feel genuinely happy about spending time with people who have my back.

Lastly, I was being weighed down by fear. Fear about loving people. I had denied myself from feeling strongly about someone in a while, always haunted by the possibility that I was faking my emotions in search for a way to cure my loneliness. But that is not the case anymore .There's no insecurity, or voids to fill, or loneliness. I am content with everything life has given me right now, so my feelings for a potential significant other are simply my desire to share this happiness with that special someone.

That’s when I realized, undoubtedly, one truth: love is a choice.

1. When love is a choice, it is not a way to stop feeling lonely.

You are okay being alone. You just know that sharing the quiet with someone is nice, too. You understand that you are being cherished, but that you are also cherishing someone, too.

2. When love is a choice, you are free.

You choose that person every day. You chose to smile beside them. Cry beside them. Get angry beside them. Be anxious beside them. Be vulnerable, exposed. It's a choice to trust that you can be yourself.

3. When love is a choice, it's like icing on the cake.

Your life is already being built all by yourself, but to be able to tell someone about the progress you made in your projects or the things that brightened your day, that's the extra something you find the most satisfying to share. You can be independent, but leaning and being sure someone is there to be your pillar of strength is reassuring.

4. When love is a choice, it accepts you.

It won't judge you. It feels like reaching a comfortable home when you didn't even realize you had been looking for a place to rest. It calms and soothes you.

5. When love is a choice, the little things are everything.

Time continues to pass by and the universe may keep on expanding. None of these things stop for the sake of love, but in your tiny world, everything has shifted. And the little things are what show you care for your significant other.

6. When love is a choice, it helps you grow.

It helps your significant other grow. You push each other to be the best version of yourself you can possibly be. You rely on each other for doubts and anxieties and you are also there to readily share opportunities and exciting adventures. A blanket of security that wraps around your mischievous child inside.

7. When love is a choice, you realize it is good.

It is healthy. You hold onto a connection, a common ground, and embrace the other person's flaws. And holding on, and maintaining this, you remind your significant other of a firm believe that they already know themselves: "you are worthy".

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Entertainment

Disney magic for New Year!

The "Happiest Place on Earth" has a lot of characters with some pretty great advice.

4383
Disney magic kingdom castle on new years
StableDiffusion

Disney movies are well known and very popular in today's world. Although many people appreciate the plot and the storyline, not many people appreciate the wisdom these characters possess. Every Disney movie has unique advice that can be applied to everyday life. Here are 11 Disney quotes to help start your New Year off right:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

40 Gift Ideas for the Indecisive

It's a time of love, family, memory-making, and gift-giving. But also a time of stressing over the perfect gift.

118805
Christmas gifts around a tree
StableDiffusion

It's officially December. There is less than a month of 2024, and I still feel like yesterday was summer. Now comes the merriest time of the year, the Christmas season.

Everyone has been waiting for this time of year since mid-October (which is way too early, in my opinion) or before. It's a time of love, family, memory-making, and gift-giving. A lot of times when I ask friends and family what they want, I get a lot of "I don't know" or "I don't care."

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Bucket List To Live In The Now

Find excitement in your life and start exploring wherever you are right here, right now.

880
mu bucket list

I was sitting at my cubicle, now that I am an adult, looking at the rain pouring down on the windowsill, bumming on life, wishing for the rain to just stop for a full day.

There are moments where we count down the hours until work is over and how many more days till the weekend, and this many weeks until something exciting. Or something like that? Well, I was bumming because my next day off from work is not until Memorial Day weekend, which is not until the end of May. And since this is my first year out of college being a “real person,” I am totally missing the winter, spring and summer breaks. I am sure all of us have felt this way even if just for a hot minute…

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

11 Ways To Survive Finals As Told By Leslie Knope

Because you know you're going to be stressed out, and Leslie knows exactly how to survive.

649
Everything hurts and I'm dying

So finals are on their way. That's right everybody, finals are about to start.

But hey, don't panic. Start getting your affairs in order and prepare for a week of hell. Here's a few things Leslie Knope wants you to do to make your finals week just a little bit less stressful:

Keep Reading...Show less
Kent State University
Great Value Colleges

If you go to or went to Kent State, then more than likely you have done or will do some of these things.

1. You’ve slipped and fallen on the ice at least once.

The winters at Kent are brutal, and while the heated sidewalks and some great snow boots are always a help, there’s no chance you won’t bust it on the ice at least once in your four plus years at school.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments