UNDERSTANDING TRUE LOVE? WHICH ONE IS ‘THE ONE’

Finding true love, the ‘Only One’ for you, is always a struggle.

It’s the same struggle for them as it is for you.

Are they the right one for you? Are you the right one for them?

One way to find out is get married a lot.

“Dang, the wrong one. Again.”

How does anyone get true love right when there are so many clues?

Is it the one you exchange friendship rings with?

The one who gives you a heart shaped pendant with their name on the heart?

Or the one who shares half a heart necklace with your name for them and their name for you?

The answers are yes, yes, and yes. If you’re in Junior High.

The love equation of 1 + 1 = 1 states that no jewelry is necessary, but still nice.

If there’s a test for true love, it’s getting married and staying married.

Doesn’t it sound easy? It’s not, but still not that hard based on baby boomer logic.

Your feelings for someone changes over time. That’s a good sign. No one sparks the candle for romance with a ‘same old – same old’ lighter.

No one lights up their loved one while shoveling dirt in the rut they’ve dug.

How To Know The One You Can’t Live Without

The key word here is ‘Live.’

You need to live a little to understand what you can’t live without.

The girl, or boy, next door is the sweetest thing. Your mom and dad both agree that they are a real ‘catch.’

You know you’re a real catch, too, so everything is fine. You even go to the prom together in high school.

This is where the notion of ‘timing’ comes in. Most of our lives we’ve heard that girls mature sooner than boys, which has always sounded like a guy’s excuse for being an idiot to me.

If you’re lucky you find someone at the same maturity level as you and get married. Otherwise, you break-up.

It’s awful and you can’t stand the thought of living without them. You see them with someone new and it sinks in: It was never meant to last.

This leaves two choices: Mourn the loss the rest of your life by living in splendid solitude to protect your notion of true love, or accept reality and wish everyone well in their lives together.

In the first instance you become an eccentric hermit everyone runs from; in the other you gain experience in who ‘the one’ might be. And just maybe, you might see how you can improve your attitude.

The One That Got Away

Bruce Springsteen explains:

There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach road
In the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch they’re gone on the wind
So Kelly, climb in
It’s a town full of losers
And I’m pulling out of here to win

The one that got away haunts so many happily married couples. They are happy, but . . .

And you never hear about it, except sometimes things slip.

Instead of a ghost haunting around in the skeleton frame of a burned out Chevrolet, stand up and declare yourself ready to the one you love.

Ready to commit to someone you care about, to someone you love, to someone willing to take a chance with you.

You know where this is going?

Bruce knows what time it is, ABBA knows better, and who doesn’t love them some ABBA?

Young people could do worse than take Bruce’s advice, but getting down to business is more an ABBA thing.

Take a chance on them, they take a chance on you, and you both know the odds because you of your time together.

The one that got away can be anyone. You saw a face in a crowded place? An angel? Easy boy, you’re too high.

What True Love Knows?

True love sticks and works it out with someone worthy of their love.

So be worthy. Work on it.