The next time I have the urge to speak negatively or rudely to you, I’ll swallow and be silent. Loving you doesn’t give me license for rudeness.
If I can’t be generous and supportive, I’ll at least try not to stand in your way. Loving you means wanting you to grow.
I won’t put my problems onto you. You have enough problems, I’m certain, and you don’t need mine. My love should simplify your life, not complicate it.
I don’t always have to be right, I can accept the fact that you are right as often as I am. Loving is sharing with each other. If I already know I’m right, I’ll never profit from your insight.
I don’t always have to be running the show. Loving is an ebb and flow. Sometimes I’ll need to give in. At other times, I’ll need to take control.
I don’t have to be perfect, nor do you. Love is a celebration for our humanness, not our perfection.
I can give up wanting to change you. If I want you in my life, the best thing for both of us is for me to accept you as you are. After all, love is moving forward together in mutual growth.
I don’t need to place blame. Since I’m an adult who makes decisions based on personal experience, there is no one to blame for a poor decision except myself. Love puts the responsibility where it belongs.
I can give up expectations. To wish is one thing, to expect is another. One brings hope, the other one brings pain. Love is free of expectations.
To love is the greatest of human experiences and sooner or later we realize that without it life is empty and meaningless. Love is always worth the effort, even if it brings confusion, uncertainty and pain in the process. A loving relationship should be a celebration of its own. Let’s use this special day as a reminder of that, and continue celebrating throughout the year.
From Bus 9 to Paradise
