Different Types of Love

A lot of this is based from my own knowledge and hands on experience as well as what I see in a lot of others. This generation cannot seem to handle the type of love that we so desperately hope for. Whether we are too busy focusing on careers, our life problems, school, or any of these things, it just seems like there is little time for the romance aspect. Now, I've personally been in love (the type where nothing is out of the question) with my same neighbor for 11 years and sometimes I realize have to take a step back and evaluate where my head is at. We tried things a long time ago as teenagers and were mature enough to see that we weren't healthy for each other at the time. Well, fast forward a few years through our college life, and all the while we've gotten closer than ever and she's opened up in ways I had never expected. Truth was she was getting comfortable with me while I was slowly falling harder for her. And the crazy part is this woman hid nothing from me, and told me everything in confidence, knowing I would not judge her. So why did I find it hard to always be there? What I didn't know and still don't know is her intentions. To bring someone in so close who can openly admit how they feel about you to eventually toss them to the side is almost the most common story these days it seems. That and the good ol' fashion "I can do it, but you can't" scenario that has destroyed plenty of friendships and relationships. One of this specific female's phrases she loves to live by. It's almost like relationships in our generation are bipolar. That says a lot coming from someone actually bipolar. So many people want a perfect relationship, they want love but yet everyone has a different explanation for it. Here's mine for example, love is when you look at the person and realize that your day is simply better with their presence around. Love is when you find someone you want to laugh with all day and gossip about everything with. Essentially, the qualities you find in your best friend. And if you manage to end up with your best friend, then kudos to you, but this is about our generation's lack of love. Nowadays, it just seems like we hook up to avoid the emotional part, the hurt, feelings, and all of that, yet it's these things that are supposed to make us feel alive. A lot of this falls on us guys for being only half as mature as we wish we were, not saying it's the same for everyone. And yet at the same time the females of this generation are just as much to blame. The expectations one faces from another before getting in a relationship is the problem behind them. What's so hard about "You make me smile, so I want to keep you around?" Mutual feelings can't even seem to get it all the way done anymore, because thanks to social media outlets, the attention and our ideas of what we deserve has been morphed and has also changed the way we think about love and relationships. We all just feed into it now, it's like everyone wants Instagram relationships, something picture perfect. And that's just another big new thing, showing off your relationship on social media nowadays. All of this, I feel, is unhealthy and causing more issues along the way. If you're a hopeless romantic, just take my advice and keep trying. It may hurt, you could get crushed, or as in my case, treated like a joke, but at the end of the day knowing you tried and that you loved is only going to build you into a better you for the person who comes along next. Because there's always exceptions to things, including the friend zone but we won't get into all that, so having a little hope can go a long way. We can't fail to forget though as guys, we are very responsible for the way females act now, the whole no strings attached, sleeping with who they want cause they can. We can't be mad about these things, it would be way too hypocritical because once you're at my age, every female has experienced heartache at one point from a guy. Again, being hopeful though can go a long way. Anyways, the point here is how fickle and little meaning relationships seem to have these days, and yet we all want the best one. Now, it's been 11 years and I'm still hopeful to this day that I can stop with all my shortcomings and prove to this woman that our connection is more than where she's comfortable leaving it at, cause I know I won't feel this way about another woman. That's not the type of feeling you give up on either. I have a lot more of my own views on love and relationships, but I just wanted to speak on a part mostly brought to my attention. Really, at the end of the day, it's all about making yourself happy. And if you truly care for someone, you'll be happy seeing them happy. Relationship or not.