I love my husband. When I said my wedding vows, I meant every word. Would I still love him if he lost his job? Of course I would. Would I still love him if he lost his job and was doing nothing to figure out how to provide for our family? Yep, I would still love him. Would I love him if he lost his job, stopped caring about providing for us, and decided to sleep with anything with breasts and a skirt on? Yep, I would still love the man. Would I stay with him, though? Nope—can’t say that I would.
Love is some powerful stuff. It’s one of the main reasons people decide to stay in a relationship with someone and eventually get married. Love makes your heart skip a beat, and compels you to do anything to make your mate happy. But is love all you need? Is love enough to sustain a happy, healthy relationship?
I think love is essential, and trying to build a long-lasting union without real love can only lead to trouble.
I think love is essential, and trying to build a long-lasting union without real love can only lead to trouble. But I am not convinced that a marriage can last on love and love alone. Or if it does last, I can’t see how it can thrive. Despite what people may say, l wonder if love really does conquer all.
In addition to love, of course we have other things that matter a whole lot like respect, compassion, support, encouragement, and trust. Honestly, though, all those things should be present simply because true love is present, right? But what about the other stuff, though? What about a strong work ethic? What about integrity? What about courage? What about having a vision?
Although I am not convinced, maybe love can be? Maybe love is enough if you think of what love means in its truest form. If I love you, I will work hard to support you. If I love you, I will dig deep and find the courage I need to create a good life for us. If I love you, I will always say what I mean, and mean what I say. If I love you, creating a vision will matter to me, because I know we can only thrive if we have a vision.
So does this mean that when people can’t step up to the plate and give you what you truly need in your relationship, they don’t love you? Not necessarily, because I think love can be present in the face of immaturity. I think someone can love you deeply, but still be too immature, or even too damaged, to make the necessary decisions and sacrifices to make your relationship work. I think that as simple as love is, it can be incredibly complicated for some.
The truth of the matter is, my opinion doesn’t matter. Only you can determine if the love you are receiving feels real, and only you can determine if that love is enough. When people find the perfect mate, it’s not because that person is actually perfect; it just means that the person is perfect for them. Every relationship is different, and everyone has different expectations about what it means to feel loved.
However, I will argue that one thing should be considered a universal truth; true love makes you feel good inside. True loves doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t sadden, it doesn’t deplete.
So with this in mind, I guess we all have to ask ourselves how we define love, and once we answer that question, we have to determine if love should be enough.
BMWK family, do you think love should be enough?