From the moment we came across our first Disney movie, we have been told that love, in order to be true, must last forever. 

While that maybe true, it also greatly underestimates all other kinds love. Because of the fairytales, and the chick lit/ flicks we’ve come across, we start to demand from love instead of seeking to put another first. 

We get lost in the chaos of ‘effort’ and the ‘is he into me’ game without realizing that raw love never demands to be noticed. It just loves simply because there’s no other way for it to be felt. 

Love, they say, transforms. So many stories begin with, ‘he/ she was never who I imagined myself to be with’. Constantly the girl with a list of set standards, this often bothered me up until recently. 

Many writers before me have written about life changing love, and I’ve hesitated in writing about mine out of the fear that my words will never be enough to depict the beauty in my life. 

Just like in the movies, there was an unlikely lead, but unlike the movies, it wasn’t about a relationship, but rather how one changed the other.

This kind of love, no matter how brief or unconventional it may have been wasn’t like what I’ve watched, read, or heard before. The love didn’t demand, but simply seeped into one’s consciousness and left an impact that was going to affect change for a very long time. 

I have come to know that love, just like quote by Mr. Wilde said, has nothing to do with how one looks, where one came from, or even what one has done. Love comes rather unexpectedly and one’s world is changed completely. For others, the changes have been unfortunate, but for me, it has been beautitul. 

No longer does my hardened, cynical heart judge or question, it was as if I was left with a heart so big I now simply accepted people instead of judging them.  

2014 brought about my life’s biggest heartbreak and at the same time, also rewarded me with a love that will greatly affect my view of relationships and people in the future. It may have not been what I asked God for, but it was exactly what I needed to learn. 

I have been humbled two times over: first rather hurtfully because the first one never thought I was enough, and the second one, humbled because I didn’t know I could love beyond one’s imperfections and jarring differences.

It wasn’t the requited love of the books, but it touched me for a moment and I knew that there was power in loving from a distance, and power in choosing to let go while wishing for the best for another. 

It has taught me to be kinder both to myself and others, and most importantly, it cemented my belief that God indeed has a purpose for everyone you meet. 

And while I may regret the first one, I could never regret you, and all the color and laughter you’ve poured into my life. 

Until our paths cross again.