why falling in love is so goddamn hard

after days of deserved incessant prodding from suji, i finally wrote another article for the damned cl magazine, about romantic love. for some reason, i went about writing the article in the writing style i had when i came back from the states (which i was praised for in the retreat and which i seemed to have lost over time). just thought i'd share it with you.

The Trouble With Love Is…

It’s already February, and the scenario is unsurprisingly common in the month of love; a guy or girl “falls” head over heels “in love” with someone who is hopefully of the opposite sex, goes to great lengths to win that person over, and depending on Cupid’s mood, either gets the ending he/she wants or ends up dumbfounded in the middle of the street. Now, assuming that said person got the “bad ending”, he or she will easily dismiss it and forget his or her object of affection the next day, as if he or she did not go through anything at all.

This is where the most important question of a hormonal adolescent comes up into the equation: where does one draw the line between infatuation and true love?

It’s all too common to see teenagers declaring their “love” for another, and rather rare to see people acknowledging infatuation itself. Most get so wrapped up in their own emotions and passion that it automatically registers as love love in their psyches, but will find out soon enough that it isn’t the case, usually after when that infatuation fades away quickly as it came.

So where does one draw the line? Is it when one’s emotions for someone transcend the barrier of stomach butterfly-inducing looks? Is it when one is willing to look past faults that would usually make another person turn his head the other way? Whatever it is, most young people don’t know what it is – but they should know, and while they don’t, they will continually make a fool of themselves saying that they are “deeply in love” with someone when they are a few cards short of love’s full deck.

So what should one do?

The solution to that is actually a really simple one: stop, think, and take small steps. In a normal situation, no one is forcing anyone to have a relationship or anything – it’s all in the head. Once one starts thinking and reevaluating his or her true intent, he or she might find that his or her feelings of “deep romantic love” may actually lack the conviction it needs.

Now, if anyone who’s “madly in love” would actually take the time and do this, we’d have lesser love problems in the world