Just a few days ago, I was asked "What is love to you? How would you define love?". And for something that you think one might be able to answer off the top of their head, I realized after a minute or two that love has a standard definition, but it is mainly defined by how you love.
Love is many things. Love is trust, sacrifice, forgiveness, sympathy, understanding, commitment, and loyalty. Love is the good, the bad, the ugly, happy and sad. Love can be like The Notebook; screaming and crying in the rain fighting for one another until you have no fight left in you, just to wake up to your other half lying next to you in the morning. Love can be a Taylor Swift song making you feel every emotion you can feel down to the core. Love can be messy and confusing, but it can also be a fairy tale.
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Love is yelling and slamming doors just for them to open right back up again, having arms waiting to hold you and say "I'm sorry." Love is "how could you?", "I never did anything wrong", "It's over", knowing deep in your heart that it really isn't- that you will always forgive this person. Love is anger and frustration, getting to your wits end and not knowing which way to turn anymore. Love is "I don't want to see you tonight, I just need to think about things" but their driveway is the one you end up in at the end of the night, and their arms are where you find yourself.
Love can also be the smiles between two people that say so much without saying anything at all. It can be the late night drives where the only songs that are playing on the radio are the ones that put into words how you feel about the person sitting next to you. Love can be getting their favorite candy and cupcakes and planning a movie night just because you know they've had a really stressful week. Love is dancing in the kitchen at 2 in the morning. Love is looking at that person when they're stuffing their face with an entire pizza and bag of chips. When they have makeup strewn tears running down their face. When they're mindlessly going about their day and still believing that they make your world go round, putting the stars in the sky just for you. Love is knowing what they need and want when they need and want it, without them saying anything. Love is taking the long way home just to pull over on the side of the road and pick sunflowers for them.
Love is following your heart even if you're hesitant, unsure, and scared. It's running back into those same arms, even after you thought you would never see that person again. It's trusting your gut and accepting what you feel, knowing that the road ahead might be a little foggy, but with the right hand to hold along the way you can walk it blindly and confidently. It's picking up the broken pieces that have fallen over time, and putting them back together in a brand new way. It's wanting to make it work and not settling until it does. Love is about taking risks, putting your heart on the line, maybe even multiple times, but knowing that it will all be worth it because that one special person is worth it.
Most importantly, love is something that you cannot force. It is something that comes naturally between two people who have souls that have intertwined, and it is certainly something that should not be ignored or pushed to the side. We only get one chance at this life. One chance to acknowledge the love we have, one chance to love and to be loved in return. We aren't promised tomorrow, so love today like tomorrow is never going to come.
