Is Love Enough?

Some people believe that love is everything in a marriage or a relationship. I am not sure that is true. There have been arguments that suggest that “as long as you love someone, that is all that is required” I see this for lack of a better word as more naïve than romantic.

There are serious factors, which may affect a relationship whether a couple wants to acknowledge it or not. These may be cultural in the case of inter cultural relationships, racial in the case of inter racial relationships, religion in the case of inter religious relationships and much more. As much as couples may want to assume that love will cure all wrongs, the complexities of some of the issues mentioned above and their very powerful ability to choke this powerful force Love is very real.

So does it mean that people who stay clear of these kinds of relationships are likely to have a better marriage or relationship? Of course not! There are people who are in these relationships today who have had the best relationship anybody could hope for. So the question then is what is their secret?

Look at the following perhaps the answer(s) can be found below

• In every relationship look for someone who you can relate to at a very fundamental level
• Though a relationship involving different culture, faith or race may appear to complicate things further, however if you respect one another and your differences, you will both ride the waves of any problems that may arise in future without drowning. “United you stand, Divided you fall”.
• Know what you want. There will be friends and relatives who are so full of advise and examples of why it will not work or what will happen when you have children and oh my gosh the world is going to cave in. This will happen even from the most unexpected places. Be aware of this and always check the motives of the person giving you this advise. Take whatever good you can get out of each advise and trash the rest. You can only do this of course if you are positively positive that you know what you want.
• Learn more about each other’s differences, it allows you to better understand, be even more tolerant and operate in each other’s worlds
• Understand the reality that sometimes discrimination will come from people you know and love as well as strangers. The former will most likely hurt more than the latter but see it for what it is, a lack of understanding and smother them with your kindness and love if you can but let them know you choose each other over anyone else that will curtail those who may want to play some mischief.
• If you think this is just too much for you and you cannot handle it, then remain in your corner of the world do not venture out

There are other more generic issues, which can choke love out of any relationship on the face of the earth, such as financial issues, trust issues, physical, mental and emotional abuse issues, these can be deadly to Love too.

My opinion is that true love in reality grows over time. Some may think that the “idea” of love may be enough when a couple have just met and may believe what they feel is “love” at first sight and perhaps there is something like that too but it is difficult to truly measure love without a passage of time. You truly know someone loves you when over the course of time; they selflessly put you above themselves, especially at times when you know others would have found the first and closest exit.

Everything in life that is worth something passes through some form of testing so why not love passing through the test of time?

As to the amount of time required in validating love, that will require some more thought.