In the beginning of relationships, we’re often so overzealous about the situation that we tend to lose track of everything else, from schoolwork to our jobs and the other important relationships in our life.
While romantic relationships are an important part of life, we cannot forget about the other people who love us. Love is vital to happiness.
No one can be truly happy unless they are loved by someone. As humans, we need to know we’re loved, we need to be able to love others, and we thrive off of being able to share that love with everyone, whether intentionally or unknowingly. If we do not have some form of love in our lives, we cannot have long-term happiness.
Some people fool themselves into thinking that the type of love they need for true happiness is romantic love. They find themselves relying heavily on love to direct their moods, their decisions and sometimes even the entirety of their thoughts.
This state of being is rather dangerous because if the love they thought they had begins to wither, their moods, thoughts and overall presence begin to follow suit.
In the search for and the upkeep of romantic love, many will lose track of the other love in life. We have friends and family all around us who want to experience our love and who want to share their love with us. When we take a look at the metaphorical big picture, we see that the platonic love in our lives has driven us to where we stand today, and it keeps us going on a daily basis.
When we throw that ever-so-vital part of our lives away, we fate ourselves an unpleasant experience. Sure, romantic love will keep our heart smiling for a while, but we’ll find out with time that it does not have the power to keep us on our feet without any assistance.
That’s why we have to pace ourselves when entering relationships.
Remember that rational thinking is best. We have to hold on to our friends. Most anyone will tell you that true friendships last longer than any other type of relationship. If this is true, and I believe wholeheartedly that it is, then we should never throw aside our friends and replace them with lovers. We’re likely to end up losing both our friends and our partners if we take such actions.
It is difficult to express the magnitude of the importance of maintaining friendships. True friendships are nearly guaranteed to last as long as both people work together to overcome problems. It is hard for a friendship to stay alive when one person is distracted by someone else.
Relationships are significant contributors to happiness, but be aware that friendships are vital to the quality of life. Be sure to take care of the most important relationship you will ever have.
Michael Robert is a sophomore studying mathematics. He can be contacted at [email protected].