True Love: The Ugly Truth

True love can be ugly. I bet you are surprised to hear that one.

After more than three decades of marriage, I can testify that marriage, while a great idea for a happy life, can be met with a lot of unexpected challenges and occurrences.

The dating phase of a relationship is often met with putting our best foot forward. Trying hard to impress and gain the attention and acknowledgment of someone.

But often when the hook of marriage is made, it becomes a very different lifestyle. We don't try as hard to impress or acknowledge. We don't say all the little sweet nothings, it is more like, "OK what's for dinner?"

HA HA! Once the honeymoon is over it is on to real life and back to reality.

Marriage love is way different than relationship love.

We love our parents and our children way differently than we love our spouses. That is a more dedicated love, but true love is the deepest of loves.

True love is knowing the faults and habits of another person and still opening your heart to them. True love is when the other person messes up, whether in the relationship, in career, finances, or any of the many spaces one can fall short, forgiveness is the number one action given without hesitation or reservation.

That's not to say that we will not need a minute to breathe and sort through our own emotions, but falling onto forgiveness and love in spite of what has occurred. I mean really, we all hurt each other's feelings. It really is something that is hard to control.

As I have mentioned in Intention and Interpretation, we cannot always control how someone or anyone perceives what we are trying to communicate. We can only do our best to up lift each other and have the best intention of doing no harm.

So true love while possible is a journey that takes time to walk and build. I know, so many give up along the way for so many different reasons.

I am no different in questioning this journey from time to time as well, however, we have stayed the course and now we are on to "until death do we part".

It is an accomplishment like no other, to have my lifelong friend with me throughout this journey, has truly been the true love I always hoped for and dreamed about.