Only Love
Who travels for love finds a thousand miles not longer than one.
- Japanese Proverb
I came across this and wondered why many people believe that one shouldn't look for love, but let it find them. I'm not sure I can extrapolate that to be an American mentality -- this passive approach to love.. I suspect "Just be patient.." to be a blanket statement used by pessimists to rally up other non-risk-takers to agree, thereby justifying their decision to not have such high expectations. What it comes down to is that they're scared of putting their heart on the line, no?
I found it funny that the cultural stereotype of Americans is that they are high-achievers, hard-working, and deeply ambitious. These kids grew up being told they can do whatever they want to do, be whatever they want, and that nothing was impossible! Why isn't this mentality applied to love? Maybe love is not concrete enough a goal, and thus dismissed as inefficient, or perhaps futile.
Then again, I'm not sure why divorce rates are so high in this country. Is it because, contrary to my hypothesis, too many people believe in love? Or is it because they're misled into believing that what the have is an eternal love that will not require work?
I can only work with evidence that has been brought before me. And the fact is, there are only a handful of people I know that are with someone they really liked from the get-go. Only a handful of people that said they were smitten, and their partner is exactly who they were looking, or waiting, for. Too many people have admitted that they fell into the relationship, or that they grew to love the other.
I'm not dismissing that the latter relationship can not work out, but I feel it falls gravely short of the romantic ideal that is more in tune with the ambitious mentality that may be applied to a career.
Maybe disappointments in work or school is easier to deal with than a taxing relationship.
Or maybe the "never give up" mentality is being incorrectly applied to relationships, where an individual feels that more hard work is all that is needed to perfect it.
Blah, I'm running in circles again. In my head, I initially had about 2 paragraphs to pose a thought I had today, but...
I'm gonna keep believing in love. I'd rather be let down a hundred times, searching, than to sit around denying it it can be found.
- Japanese Proverb
I came across this and wondered why many people believe that one shouldn't look for love, but let it find them. I'm not sure I can extrapolate that to be an American mentality -- this passive approach to love.. I suspect "Just be patient.." to be a blanket statement used by pessimists to rally up other non-risk-takers to agree, thereby justifying their decision to not have such high expectations. What it comes down to is that they're scared of putting their heart on the line, no?
I found it funny that the cultural stereotype of Americans is that they are high-achievers, hard-working, and deeply ambitious. These kids grew up being told they can do whatever they want to do, be whatever they want, and that nothing was impossible! Why isn't this mentality applied to love? Maybe love is not concrete enough a goal, and thus dismissed as inefficient, or perhaps futile.
Then again, I'm not sure why divorce rates are so high in this country. Is it because, contrary to my hypothesis, too many people believe in love? Or is it because they're misled into believing that what the have is an eternal love that will not require work?
I can only work with evidence that has been brought before me. And the fact is, there are only a handful of people I know that are with someone they really liked from the get-go. Only a handful of people that said they were smitten, and their partner is exactly who they were looking, or waiting, for. Too many people have admitted that they fell into the relationship, or that they grew to love the other.
I'm not dismissing that the latter relationship can not work out, but I feel it falls gravely short of the romantic ideal that is more in tune with the ambitious mentality that may be applied to a career.
Maybe disappointments in work or school is easier to deal with than a taxing relationship.
Or maybe the "never give up" mentality is being incorrectly applied to relationships, where an individual feels that more hard work is all that is needed to perfect it.
Blah, I'm running in circles again. In my head, I initially had about 2 paragraphs to pose a thought I had today, but...
I'm gonna keep believing in love. I'd rather be let down a hundred times, searching, than to sit around denying it it can be found.