"I believe in great loves that can change you to such an extent that even your own mother doesn't recognize you."
I really believe in those great, fairy-tale, loves, but I talk and act like I don't believe in love AT ALL. I have no serious romantic expectations, I'm not asking for stars to fall from the sky for me. I am one of those rare people who likes tradition, but who also believes that monogamy is not necessary.
Nevertheless, I believe in great loves…. because I had it.
I had HUGE love. This is the love that permeates you. A love that you can't even believe exists and that it came right to you. Novels have been written about her, songs have been written for her. This is the love that teaches you about things you didn't know existed, the love that gives you infinitely more than you need.
This is the LOVE OF YOUR LIFE.
If you're lucky, you'll meet the love of your life. You will be with her, learn from her, give her soul and body and allow her to change you to such an extent that even your own mother will not recognize you. This experience is unique. But it rarely happens.
But what you will never read in a fairy tale about this kind of love is that, yes sometimes we meet the love of our life but fail to keep it. We don't marry her, we see her in the arms of another woman or another man, or even worse: death snatches her from our hands.
I'll let you in on a secret: love does NOT conquer all! In real life, it doesn't solve intractable problems, it doesn't overcome diseases, it doesn't move mountains...
We can't hold on to the love of our life like a lap child because at the end of the day love isn't all there is and it isn't the only thing that matters. Maybe we want a small house in a secluded location and three children, and he wants a city life and a career. We would explore the world, but he is most beautiful at home. And that's why sometimes the biggest, most generous gesture in life is to let go of the love of your life.
And if our fairy tale does not end with words "and they lived happily ever after", that doesn't mean that love wasn't worth it. Someone can love us in one year with such strength that no one else will love us in fifty years. Some people can teach us more things in one day than others will teach us in a lifetime.
So why belittle our great loves now? And why are we desperately looking for other "great loves" today, someone to replace her, someone who will be better?
Perhaps we should be grateful that we have ever known such love. That we could experience it. Some people NEVER meet even one great love in their life!
