Happily Ever After....

…And then the prince rode the princess to his castle on his white horse, and they lived happily ever after.

What a load of crap!

Growing up, I am sure all of us have been greatly touched by these fairy tales, these tales of happily ever afters. We fill out minds with thoughts of princes and princes and heroic deeds that win over the fair maiden. As we grow up, our thoughts do become more realistic, but deep down we are still searching for that prince to take us to his castle that he built just for us, or to find out which “heroic” tasks will win over the maiden that will win over the maiden that we desire. So this we may live happily ever after with our “the one”.

Love is the ultimate source of happiness that everyone seeks, and since this post is about love (although it may at first have seemed to be about fairy tales:P), let me be very cliché and write the dictionary meaning of love. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines love as strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties (yes there are a few more, I am just listing the first one). This is just one of the definitions of love, if you search the internet you can find thousands more. I guess in the end, what love is, is just a matter of opinion.

Love is sacrifice, love is wanting to make someone happy, love is wanting to protect them, to make sure they never shed a tear. Love is doing everything in you power, just to see them smile. Love is being able to sacrifice what you want for someone else, and in the end be happy because that person is happy. Love is being there for someone, because it makes yourself happy. To love is not to regret the sacrifices you make, and to be by their side no matter what.

That’s what I can think of about love, I know there will be, many people who disagree with my definition of love, and many who will say such love doesn’t exist. I am not here to say, I am right, or to prove that such love exists, but only to say that, that is what I think true love is.

Deep down inside, most of us do have a fairy tale impression of love; that if we truly love someone nothing else matters, that everything else will be all right. And that we live happily ever after once we find true love. But the reality is far from this. Love isn’t about happy endings, fate, destiny, the one and all that shit. Finding love isn’t a happy ending, it’s only the beginning, of a constant battle to keep our happiness secure.

There isn’t any such person as the one, there are many people in the world that we can make it with, who we end up with depends on the actions and choices we make. Just because we really love someone doesn’t make everything work out, love doesn’t rise against all the winds of the world and triumph over everything.

I know I sound like a total cynic, but I am really a big believer of love. Of true love, that love is a great power that can fuel you and help you accomplish extraordinary things. Love is happiness, it is the ultimate joy. But it is not enough. You can truly love someone more than anything else in the whole world and still do a lot of crappy stuff. And that is when, love isn’t enough.

“What? Do I still love you? Absolutely. There's not a doubt in my mind. Through all my anger, my ego, I was always faithful in my love for you. That I ever made you doubt is the great mistake in a life full of mistakes. I can tell you that I love you as many times as you can stand to hear it but it doesn't set us free, all it does is remind us that love is not enough. It's not even close” – Life is a house - 2001