 Emily
writes, "Recently, I've been thinking quite a lot about
the
issue of love. I'm quite a
romantic
girl. I think it's partly because that's just the
way I am, but also because I've been influenced probably
by all the
romantic movies/TV
shows/novels that have been with me up to now. Today
I had a scary thought though. What if it isn't like the
movies? I always pictured it would be. The
romance, the
passion, the feeling that you are the
most important thing in the world to that person and
that they would
travel to the end of the earth just to be with you.
I know very mushy soppy stuff, but you get my drift! I'm
worried that I'm never really going to let myself settle
for anything less and if all this doesn't actually
exist, I may end up an
old spinster with 20 cats! But if I do forget about
all these
romantic notions and just give in to reality and
forget about the
fairytale, what if it's not enough? Am I asking too
much? Is this unrealistic? Does this kind of
love even exist?"Fiction
is a window into reality
I am glad, though, you realize that
Hollywood movies are fiction and should be treated
that way: for
entertainment. Trust me, even real lives of
Hollywood stars are nothing like they show in the
movies. They all face the same challenges as you and
I do.
 Having said that, almost all fiction comes from
real stories, not just of one person. So there are
people out there who have the same
romantic experiences that you see in the
films. I do not intend to boast or claim that
somehow we are special, but my wife and I have a
beautiful marriage. We were together for about 6
years and then we got married in 2001. All this time has
been full of joy and love. No, I don't
buy her diamonds every day and she does not
cook exotic meals for me every day, but that is not
material to our
happiness. We
love to
travel, we enjoy
watching movies, people watching, and reading. Our
marriage is not perfect but we do the best we can.
We almost never
fight
and there is no reason for us to
stress each other out. We have had our difficult
moments but we manage to deal with them.
I don't know if there is a secret to all of this but
some of the life lessons that I have learned are that:
- One should appreciate what one
has (while we take our eyes for granted just ask
a
blind what he would do just to be able to see),
- Keep our expectations from
others low (I expect absolutely nothing from my
wife, not even
food; I actually
cook and
wash the dishes and
clean the house
almost all the time),
- Realize that you are not
perfect and neither are others. Be
patient with others and give them a chance
because once you treat people with respect at all
times, love will come to you from complete
strangers.
-
Goal of life should be to be happy rather
than to
have money or whatever else you may like to
possess,
- Never give up hope. Life
is full of surprises. I could have never imagined
the life I have today and I have no idea how it will
be tomorrow, but I am excited anyway.
- Dream big. As the
Chinese say, if you aim for the moon, you might
get the treetop, but if you aim for the treetop, you
know where you are going to end
up.
So,
live life each day as if this is your last day and I
do not mean it as a cheesy movie line; I actually do. |
