Love? No Thanks!

Being well-aware of the fact that I might currently be inclined to some bitterness in matters of Love I'm still going to put this out there.

There. is. no. such. thing. as. Life-long. Love.

Yup, that's my claim! You cannot 'just' love someone for a lifetime...!

OK, OK, chill your beans! I'm not saying you're not going to stay with your Mr./Mrs. Right for the rest of your life! ;) I'm just saying that a life-long commitment has not got that much to do with Love.

I mean it! Love is (and should be!) the 'side-effect' of Respect, Understanding, Friendship, Kindness and Communication (- of which 3/4 should be Listening!). If Love comes First then you're probably going to experience some trouble either early on in the relationship or after 10 years of trying to figure out the balance of all that other (more important!) stuff, the giving/taking, lifting/leaning, talking/listening... and, you'll figure out that thing called Love isn't at all what it's made out to be... If your lucky you manage to sort things out, put them in order but it's quite likely that it's all too messed up, too much out of balance for you to balance the scale right...

Love doesn't make the world go round.

On the other hand...you might already have known this...?! :) I think I have too, but it's taken me 'til now to put it into context...

The only exeption to this 'rule' is the Love between a Parent and a Child. Those little people you just Love, Love and Love...with all your heart! In that instance the Respect, Understanding, Kindness and Compassionate Communication comes out of Love. With grown-ups it works the other way...!

A parent cannot (or, shouldn't) 'just' Love their grown-up child either. When children grow up you need to readjust the 'Love-setting' to 'less'...and you treat them like the grown-ups they are. :)

I've given up on Love. I have!

I don't want it anymore. I deserve better than that. 

I hope to find, to be deserving of, a life-long friend, a confidant, an equal, whom I can talk to and who will listen...  rather than the complicated mess that love brings. If love happens to happen, eventually, then alright... I realise I might not be immune to...the infatuation of love... but I don't wish, hope or pray for it, neither for me or for anyone else...
Except! When it comes to Self-Love! (but that's a different post! ;))