Mere Christianity: Like in the Movie

        "[A] notion we get from novels and plays is that 'falling in love' is something quite irresistible; something that just happens to one, like measles. And because they believe this, some married people throw up the sponge and give in when they find themselves attracted by a new acquaintance. But I am inclined to think that these irresistible passions are much rarer in real life than in books, at any rate when one is grown up. When we meet someone beautiful and clever and sympathetic of course we ought, in one sense, to admire and love these good qualities. But is it not very largely in our own choice whether this love shall, or shall not, turn into what we call 'being in love'? No doubt, if our minds are full of novels and plays and sentimental songs, and our bodies full of alcohol, we shall turn any love we feel into that kind of love: just as if you have a rut in your path all the rainwater will run into that rut, and if you wear blue spectacles everything you see will turn blue. But that will be our own fault."

        Stories and tales have been around for a long time, right? So obviously, we are not the first generations to have read a romantically inclined novel. However, we allowed our culture to become that. We all enjoy fairy tales and happy endings and all that, but that is not how life truly works. There are so many movies where a married woman sees some man she loved from her teenage years or something, and has a fling with him and they end up falling in love, and then in the end everything works out. HELLO that is NOT how life works. If you cheat, or whatever, then it's not going to work out like in fairy tales and Hollywood Blockbusters. 

        I believe that being attracted to someone, and being in LOVE with someone are two completely different things. Anyone can think that another person is attractive, but you can't love them until you get to know them and understand them. I also think that you can't truly love someone until you know their flaws and can look past them. To me, that is true love. When you are able to look past the annoyances or quirks that your partner has. Oh look.... I'm rambling... I'm trying to make a different point... 

        Ok, so when you're with someone, you are going to fight. It's only natural. No relationship is perfect. But because of the way some people have grown up, they think that just one fight, whether small or large, means that "it just wasn't meant to be". People think that life has to be all rainbows and cupcakes. Or, they just want it to be that. And even though I wish it was, that's not how life works. No, wait. I don't wish life was easy. I wish it was easier but I don't wish it was easy. When we go through struggles with people we love, we become closer to them when we work it out. We begin to understand the person in a whole new way that we wouldn't have been able to see in any other occasion. I think people need to be more patient. More understanding. Or at least, not act so "life or death" in little things. Our lives are not like movies. A director won't stop everything and say "no no, lets switch this scene here and wait a little longer so that we can end with the sunset in the background." We have to make our own happy endings even if there's some scenes we wish we could cut or have a "Take 2", we just have to take what we're given.