Earlier this week I was talking with a friend about a boy she has been hanging out with. She was debating on ending things with him or not. Her reasoning was that she’s aware they are headed in different directions in a few months and she feared what the future would bring. It came to me that this was a typical theme in my conversations with friends about the boys they are into.

I often tell people that if things are good right now, then enjoy the present and try not to worry about the future. This time, though, I realized it was more than that. If you truly care for someone and they truly care for you, throwing that connection away is a waste. That feeling of connection is uncommon, and that makes it special. If you find someone that makes you happy, that gives you those fluttering feelings in your stomach and that puts that light in your eye every time you see them, then don’t let them go just because you can’t tell the future. That uncertainty doesn’t justify not taking a chance on something great.

Having feelings for someone is not a choice. It’s not something we get to decide. If we look at it on a larger scale, it is a rarity that two people will have mutual romantic feelings for each other. That is not something to take for granted. That is special. That is unlikely. That is something worth taking a risk for. Too often we let these things slip through our fingers. Too often we choose to be "the cool girl without any feelings." We try to shut down or shut off the attractions we have to others only to keep things simple. But how do we know we aren't choosing to give up on something potentially amazing? Why do we want to let go of something that makes us feel so much? What are we afraid of and why?

Is it a fear of feeling more for another person than they feel for us? Or is it a fear of things not working out in the long run? Either way, I don't believe we can justify not taking a chance on something that comes along so infrequently. A real connection is hard to find, it is not something to take for granted. Not knowing how things will turn out in the future is scary; there is no denying that. But if we let that fear hold us back, we’ll never know how amazing it could be to have that person in our life. So put your fears aside, and take a chance on someone who is worthwhile, because you never know when or if that chance is going to come around again.