The Faults of Love

Love is truly a many splendored things. It's actually such a powerful word as it stands for so much emotion and feeling. Love is definitely more than just a word. Love is so unconditional and it can come from just about anybody. Your Family, your friends and that one special person you focus a lot of it on. As a sixteen year old, I can't really relate to a romantic love relationship. I mean, sure, I've read my fair share of romance novels and most movies and plays these days have some sort of romantic interest in them but that's not really the same as a true experience. However, despite this fact, I still have a pretty strong perspective on love and why it is currently, in our society, being rejected, denied and misused. This isn't the way it has to be.

First of all, many people seem to reject the love given to them simply because they don't believe they are good enough. It's like that famous line from Stephen Chbosky's novel, "The Perks of Being Wallflower." :-

"We accept the love we think we deserve."

Many people in this day and age, especially in the teenage generation, have such low self esteems that we struggle to reach our full potential. By that I mean, we struggle to believe we are pretty amazing... and amazing people deserve to be loved! Not only does our lack of belief that we aren't good enough for someone or even something, restrict us from happiness but it also mighty sucks on the receiving end. Imagine giving your love and affection to someone who feels YOU are too good for them and then being completely rejected. It would be pretty humiliating and distressing but it happens. The person might even feel the same about you but they are just simply too afraid of getting hurt and heartbroken. We all need to start communicating and being a bit more fearless. I'm not saying hearts won't be broken but why not step out of your comfort zone and share a bit of love? Why not just go for it and find out? You never know until you try!

However, love is also constantly being denied. I'm not talking about your partner or your friend leaving you, or you pulling apart from a love you once had. I'm talking about other people restricting YOUR right to love, because they don't believe it's "right". Everybody deserves to love and be loved. Love has no labels and love isn't restricted to just "certain types of people". It doesn't matter what gender, skin colour, race, religion, age or ability you have or are, we can all still love one another. We are all the same - just normal human beings and love brings happiness no matter who is receiving it! If you want to love someone of a different ethnic group or someone of the same gender then that is your right. Never let anybody tell you that your love is wrong. Love can never be wrong. It's the only thing we can be certain on in this world!

Finally, I feel like the heavy word of "Love" is often misused, especially in my generation. We seem to throw the word love around like its a simple "Hello" these days. I'm not saying that throwing love in every direction isn't a bad thing. Quite frankly, if everybody showed love to everyone, the world would be a happier place, but love is much more than a word. I feel the word love is so strong and important that when it's used too often, it loses its important meaning. Saying "I love you" to someone should be from your heart. It should mean something to you. You can't just say the word, you need to continually show your affection, you need to be sure you will be truly dedicated to that person. You don't even need to use the word, you can share your love by simply making someone smile. There is so many different arcs of love, it's actually pretty breathtaking if we sit back and admire the view. Some people say love comes with a lot of baggage and in some ways that's true. There is probably going to be hardships and lots of ups and downs. It's the journey that counts though. Love can make you weak but it can also give you strength. All you need is love. It will always be something we find complicated but that's what makes it great. It's an unexpected adventure that's just waiting to happen!

Wishing you all find the love and happiness you deserve!